Determined to abort and afraid to do the wrong thing, Fiona walked into Clearway with anything but a clear view of the future. Both she and her boyfriend had college educations and good jobs, and although she admitted that having a child now was not an impossibility it was still beyond comprehension. They clearly were in a much better place in life than many patients we see at Clearway, but Fiona’s greatest difficulty was fear of the future: how could I possibly parent when I don’t know anything about it? I’m not ready? How it will all turn out?

The “unknown” factor is a huge mental obstacle for many of our patients resulting in a quick decision to abort based only on fear of a terrible future. This is true for many of us when unexpected events hit us out of nowhere and many people’s minds automatically jump to the worst possible outcome. Fiona listened to the advocate that day who presented all the other possible outcomes – good outcomes – that she had within her power to say “yes” too. When she left Clearway that day, although the future is always unknown, Fiona had the grounding she needed to face the future with more confidence.