Why Choose LSS When Considering Placing Your Baby for Adoption?

Facing an unplanned pregnancy is stressful enough. There are a lot of decisions to be made, so struggling to know who to trust shouldn’t be an additional stress. Often it feels so overwhelming that you just want someone else to take care of everything. Sometimes this opens up the opportunity for coercion to take place. Adoption is a permanent decision, so it is important that clients are fully informed, feel supported ownership of their decision, and feel protected from coercion or exploitation.

A Reminder of the Best Advice

When we see someone struggling, our natural response is to try to help them. There is no moment more true to that than when we see someone we know or love facing an unplanned pregnancy. The first response is to offer them advice. The problem is, often they are inundated with several “helpers” who want to offer their advice, all with various opinions. It’s very difficult to be struggling with a decision and have people all around you giving conflicting advice but not really providing any resources to follow through with that advice. “You’d be a great mom, I’ll help you!” while someone else says, “but what about college, you’ll never be able to go,” or “whatever you do, don’t just ‘give it up.’” The best advice you can truly give them is to refer them to an LSS Pregnancy Counselor, because everyone around them might have an opinion on what they should do, but a Pregnancy Counselor helps THEM decide what THEY should do.

Mary’s Unexpected Pregnancy

In 1992, the song Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant came out. I was six years as a birth parent, and the first time I heard it, it hit me hard. I think I sat and cried for about an hour. That song always puts tears in my eyes because it so accurately portrays the fear of facing an unexpected pregnancy and the need for help, love and support.

Pregnancy Counseling

When facing an unexpected pregnancy, you might get a lot of advice on parenting or suggestions of looking at adoption. But where can you go to get unbiased help? Contact LSS because LSS pregnancy counseling is FREE, you don’t have to choose adoption, and outreach services are available throughout South Dakota.

Pregnancy Counseling – Why choose LSS?

You just found out you’re pregnant, and it wasn’t something you were planning – so many thoughts, emotions, and decisions to make. Who do you turn to? And where do you start? You’ve heard that LSS does adoptions (and has for nearly a century in South Dakota), but you’re not sure adoption is what you want to do. So why should you contact LSS anyway?  1. LSS pregnancy counseling is FREE, 2. You don’t have to choose adoption, and 3. Outreach is available throughout South Dakota. Free sounds like a good place to start!

The Best Advice

When we see someone struggling, our natural response is to try to help them. There is no moment more true to that than when we see someone we know or love facing an unplanned pregnancy. Whether it is your friend, sister, daughter, coworker, granddaughter or girlfriend, the first response is to offer them advice. The problem is, often they are inundated with several “helpers” who want to offer their advice, all with differing opinions. It’s very difficult to be struggling with a decision and have people all around you giving conflicting advice but not really providing any resources to follow through with that advice. “You’d be a great mom, I’ll help you!” while someone else says, “but what about college, you’ll never be able to go,” to “whatever you do, don’t just ‘give it up.’” The best advice you can truly give them is to refer them to an LSS Pregnancy Counselor, because everyone around them might have an opinion on what they should do, but a Pregnancy Counselor helps THEM decide what THEY should do.  

Pregnancy Counseling… Where Does One Start?

You take the test, and when you see the result is positive, panic sets in – you are pregnant, and you don’t know where to turn, what to do, or who to call. You can turn to Lutheran Social Services to get confidential pregnancy counseling, no matter where you live in South Dakota. LSS is there for you, to help you make a plan – whether it is to parent your child or make an adoption plan. And the best part is this counseling is completely FREE.