A Tennessee pregnancy help center launched an adoption services program in early November, hosting an open house for the local community.
The open house taking place during Adoption Awareness Month was fitting as education is a primary component of the Birth Choice program in Jackson, Tenn. The education component was also part of the open house event.
“It was a very good turn-out,” said Lisa Reasons, director of Adoption Services for Birth Choice.
City and county officials read proclamations at the event and Birth Choice gave tours of the home that serves as the adoption program’s office, she said.
“We had tours of both our adoption agency and next door and of our mobile clinic, and quite a few people come out,” Reasons said.
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Adding adoption services
Birth Choice began as a pregnancy resource center more than three decades ago. Now a pregnancy help medical clinic, Birth Choice also has three mobile clinics serving eight nearby counties. Last year, founder and executive director Brent Lambert and his team began working toward offering a fully-functional adoption services program. Reasons, who was adopted as a child, was hired in January to lead the initiative.
During the year, she and her team prepared for licensure, creating policies, and educating communities and hospitals about adoption and the new program. Birth Choice gained its temporary licensure several months ago, and in mid-November, the state granted the organization permanent licensure.
“I had to complete our first full home study for us to go from temporary licensure to permanent licensure,” Reasons told Pregnancy Help News.
Visiting churches, hospitals, businesses, and other entities and making them aware of the new Birth Choice program has also been a critical aspect of her work this year.
“We are advocating and encouraging for the care of all those without someone,” Reasons said. “That includes foster families and those in foster care.”
Education and awareness initiatives
Awareness and education are crucial to increased success for adoption. Research has shown that less than one percent of women experiencing unplanned pregnancies chose to place their child for adoption. Birth Choice hopes to help that figure increase.
“That’s one of those huge mountains that we face across the nation,” Reasons said.
“As we've gotten into this, I've realized … it's so much more than what I even imagined, and that is the education and awareness on all sides with the whole advocating for adoption,” she stated.
One of the projects that they have produced is an adoption calendar.
“You know, we can do pamphlets, and people may not even read them or may throw them away,” Reasons said, “so we did this really professional calendar, and it has stories I’ve gathered, stories from adoptees birth mothers and fathers, and adoptive parents. Each month it's a different story.”
“We had sponsors that helped underwrite the project,” Reasons added.
Adoption education is part of Birth Choice’s pregnancy center client meetings as well, with client advocates working to break down any stigma or misunderstanding about adoption that women may have.
“Some may think of adoption like foster care,” Reasons said. “We knew that we had to do something different, so we have these two images that we use based on the story of Moses,” Reasons said.
She explained that one image depicts Moses’ birth mother placing her son into a basket and releasing that basket into the river. The other image shows Pharaoh’s daughter finding him and accepting and raising him as her own child.
“We made bookmarks and things for the client advocates to use with the women who come in [to Birth Choice],” Reasons said.
Like with the calendar, storytelling is a component.
The client advocates begin by asking if they can share the story. Then without naming Moses they share the things that God did in and through Moses which then it culminates with the question of why all these things occurred; Because of two women, one who gave birth and one who raised him. This illustrates how adoption is an option.
The storytelling strategy makes an impact, including on Gospel presentations, Reasons said.
“Not only does that go so well right into spiritual adoption and sharing the Gospel, but we’ve had some volunteers come in and say how, after giving away a Bible, they put bookmarks in Exodus about Moses and encourage clients to go back and read,” she said. “We’re just planting those seeds in a way that puts it all in God's hands.”
Deeds, not just words
Moving into a new year, Birth Choice plans to continue advocating for birth moms, including finding additional resources for them, such as Christian counseling services and continuing to build relationships in more communities with outreach education and awareness.
“We cover 34 counties,” Reasons said.
“Being pro-life is not just a word, it’s a deed,” she added.
Reasons said and that to take away the argument for abortion we must take care of the ones that have no one.
“It's we the church that’s supposed to do that,” she said, “and so it's up to us to take away that argument. If we're doing what we're supposed to do, then they may begin to hear us when we say we’re pro-life because they see it in what we're doing.”
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