Daniele's Story

     In 1986, I was attending college part-time and working the midnight to 8:00 am shift in a convenience store. I was twenty-two years old and had just come out of a four-year relationship six months before our wedding date. On the rebound from this relationship, I began to date one of the local police officers in town. After a short time into the relationship, I realized that he was married and lived with his wife, regardless of what he told me. At that time, my self-esteem was so low that I really didn't care at that point. After about two months into the relationship, I became pregnant. I didn't tell anyone except for my best friend, and tried to hide the entire situation.

     At the beginning of my eighth month, I told my mother, with whom I was living. She was very angry and disappointed in me. After she had time to digest it all, she told me that whatever I chose to do, she would support my decision. I realized that the child would be entirely my responsibility. I didn't have the option of having my mother or the biological father there to help me financially, but I could always count on moral support from my mother.

     During my entire pregnancy, I was lucky if I received 4-5 hours of sleep per night. All I could do was think about how I was going to care for a child. I was already living from paycheck to paycheck, and going into debt trying to finish nursing school. So, I decided to look into other options. I wasn't comfortable with having an abortion, so the only alternative I had was to look into adoption.