Students have many places to turn when pregnant
Katie Baine had dreams of studying art in Italy. Instead, she
became a mother.
Baine, 21, found out she was pregnant near the end of fall 2002
semester. She continued going to school through the spring 2003
semester, as a junior art major at CSU.
“Initially, I was pretty scared,” Baine said. “It was hard to
comprehend. It just didn’t seem real at first.”
After taking a home pregnancy test, Baine went to Hartshorn
Health Service on campus to confirm the results. Reality sank in.
As her pregnancy began to show, Baine noticed strange glances from
other students and struggled with spending long days on her feet
traipsing around campus.
“It got harder as I got bigger,” Baine said. “Partly because of
the looks people gave me, like, ‘Is she pregnant or just fat?’ or
‘Oh my God, I’m glad that’s not me.'”
At the Hartshorn Women’s Clinic, practitioners see many nervous
girls hoping to disprove the results of a home pregnancy test.
“It’s very rare that someone comes in having absolutely no idea
they’re pregnant,” said Tanja Dunn, family nurse practitioner at
Hartshorn. “It’s usually not a pleasant surprise. (However) a
certain number of pregnancies we deal with are very happy
events.”
Baine’s pregnancy, though unplanned, was one of those happy
events.
“It definitely wasn’t planned,” she said. “But I love being a
mother. I feel like the luckiest mom in the world.”
Baine is not alone as a college student who became a parent
sooner than she planned.
Harthsorn, Planned Parenthood and Alpha Pregnancy Resource
Center all offer pregnancy tests and counseling for pregnant
students.
Each of these outlets will inform a pregnant student of three
paths she can take. In short, a pregnant woman can choose between
abortion, putting her child up for adoption or parenting the
child.
“We absolutely don’t try to steer someone in any particular
direction,” said Crystal Clinkenbeard, spokesperson for Planned
Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. “We try to make sure our clients
have the resources they need for the decision they make.”
Alpha Pregnancy Resource Center is an anti-abortion, Christian
organization that offers free pregnancy tests. Andrea Barber,
director of education for the center, said while the staff members
do not encourage abortion, they still let students make their own
choices.
“We’re not against people having choices,” Barber said. “We are
a Christian organization but that doesn’t mean we shove that on
people.”
For students interested in getting an abortion, Planned
Parenthood will perform abortions until about 17 weeks into a
pregnancy, said Kate Horle, vice president of public affairs.
“Women are capable of making decisions about their own
pregnancy,” Horle said. “There is no reason to encourage them to do
one thing or another.”
Hartshorn also takes a neutral stance when informing pregnant
students of their options.
“We do all-options counseling,” Dunn said. “We give resources
for pregnancy care, abortion and adoption services locally.”
Baine chose to parent her child. On Aug. 1, while her boyfriend
Levi Fox, 20, looked on, she gave birth to their daughter, Aiden
Fox.
“For me it’s good and bad,” Baine said. “I definitely don’t have
as much of a social life, but I take better care of myself because
I have to take better care of her.”
Levi Fox agreed.
“It’s earlier than I expected,” he said. “But I enjoy being a
parent so much, every day it just gets better.”
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