A news story is calling attention to the fact that the antidepressant medication, Paxil, may cause birth defects, meaning pregnant women and those who plan to become pregnant should avoid taking it. (“Those who plan to become pregnant”—that statement always gives me a rueful smile. If there’s one thing I know, it’s how many pregnant women did not plan to be!)

But back to the point: the story is that Paxil may be causing heart defects. Two studies of... more

I’ve been resisting talking about the Madonna adoption story—not because I don’t have strong opinions, but because it didn’t seem to have a lot to do with unplanned pregnancy, the focus of this blog.

Now I see a tie.

According to this story, the boy’s father, Johane Banda, has spoken out, saying he never intended for his son to be permanently taken away and raised “as if” he belonged to another family: Sure, this is Malawi we're talking about, and circumstances there are a little different. But... more

Tonight, a news story that shows just how big a "crisis" some people can make out of an unplanned pregnancy.

In Columbus, Georgia, a pregnant 16-year-old was allegedly forced by her family to drink turpentine in an attempt to abort the baby against her will. The girl's mother and two cousins are now in custody and will await trial.

Here's a video, and a news... more

Laura over at the Christian adoption blog beat me to posting about Sunday’s Dear Abby column, but I decided to go ahead and post my thoughts to it anyways.

Jessica from South Carolina wrote to Abby seeking advice regarding telling future children about the child she placed for adoption while a freshmen in college.

Abby responds with,

I do not agree that your children should be told "from... more

Continued from Part 1…………

Due to laws, Mariah, was unable to get her original birth certificate until she turned nineteen. On Jan 31, 2004, Mariah’s nineteenth birthday, from her college dorm in Chicago, she sent a letter she had prepared ahead of time to the Minnesota Department of Healthy requesting a copy of her birth certificate. By the time she flew back home to Minnesota for spring break, the birth certificate was there.

Her adoptive parents had already... more

When this 9/11 Story showed up in my inbox today, thanks to Google News Alerts, I knew that I had to share it with you. Granted it’s not related to crisis pregnancy, it’s a touching adoption story that surprised and moved me.

Does the name Tom Burnett sound familiar to you? If you watched any of the non stop news coverage following the terrorists acts on September 11, 2001, you are probably thinking you... more

I thought this was an interesting news story that aired on the news tonight.

A 21 year old young woman in Palm Beach, Florida, in an unplanned pregnancy was driving herself to the hospital after contractions started at home. She had not told her family that she was pregnant, afraid of their reactions, which is why she was driving herself to the hospital instead of being driven.

As a strong contraction came on, she lost control of the car and wrecked into a canal.... more

An article appeared in the Chicago Tribune today debating the merits of safe haven laws. It was interesting reading.

The article poses the question, “Are safe haven laws effective or just well-intentioned?” Honestly, I totally haven’t made up my mind exactly on how I feel about these safe haven laws. I can see the pros and cons to having and not having safe haven laws but I’m leaning more towards the side of them being well intentioned.

To... more

Do you remember the Baby Evan case? He’s made the news again!

In January of 2005, his story flooded the news waves. Heart wrenching videos released by the almost adoptive parents of Baby Evan, showed a crying child being torn away from the people who had been his main caregivers since he was born. The next day after that video flooded the news broadcasts, Evan’s biological parents released their own video, shot just hours after Evan left the adoptive parents home, showing... more

You’ve heard of "just a little bit pregnant." Now we’ve got "pre-pregnant."

According to a May 16 article in The Washington Post ("Forever Pregnant: Guidelines Treat Nearly All Women as Pre-Pregnant"), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued a report urging more and better preconception care for all women of childbearing age.

This is one of those seemingly good ideas that may have unintended consequences.

The new federal guidelines... more