There is an organization here in Tulsa that aims to support expecting mothers who don't have their own support system. The organization helps those mothers through their pregnancy and the tough decisions they may face.
Rachel Sloat and Kelly Jacobson found themselves in a position that thousands of women find themselves in every year - young and pregnant, with little support and nowhere to turn.
Both of them had to make an incredibly difficult decision.
"I was pursuing adoption," said Rachel. "I wanted him to have a two-parent household and I wanted him to not have to struggle along with me while I got my life together."
"When I was 19, I got pregnant and had an abortion and then later regretted it," Kelly revealed.
For the past 40 years, one woman has dedicated her life to guiding these expectant mothers and whether it be keeping their baby or placing them up for adoption. She encourages them to choose life for their child.
"I was really passionate about giving life to babies. And in the 1970s, it was a time when states were going to decide state by state whether they were going to have abortion on demand," said Cheryl Bauman, executive director and founder of Crisis Pregnancy Outreach. "But I knew it had to be done that girls had to have a good option for not having an abortion."
Cheryl founded Crisis Pregnancy Outreach to help other expecting mothers.
"If we were going to say, the parent or make an adoption plan, then we had to be willing to give her the tools that she needed to do either one of those things."
CPO works with pregnant women to help them find the perfect adoptive family for their unborn baby or help them through their pregnancy and all the way into raising their child.
Some women's prior involvement with CPO or their own life experiences outside of the organization has influenced them to give back and help other women.
"One of the things that have helped me heal and move on is serving here at crisis pregnancy," says Kelly. "I really wish that I had had something like this, you know that I had real choices. I only had one choice I felt like and I wonder if I would have made a different choice. If I had known about something like this."
The thousands of women who came to CPO regardless of which decision they make have mentors, support groups, and access to therapy for the rest of their lives.
"They want to make sure I'm okay, for the rest of my life like that I can deal with this decision that I made. And that it be I can continue to be healthy and that we can have a healthy relationship. And it's the continued support," Rachel said.
Cheryl believes the biggest reward is seeing children, whose mothers at one point contemplated abortion, now living successful and happy lives.
"And, you know, to see them and see how they have become amazing young people, and I can't imagine what the world would be like without them."
For Cheryl, the smiling babies, happy families, and blossoming new mothers will always be worth the months, years, and decades of hard work.
"I would do everything that I've done in all these years just to see one success story," states Cheryl.
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