Everything was going according to plan. As a freshman at the University of South Carolina at Sumter, Tessie had her whole future before her. . . until she learned that she was pregnant. Devastated and scared to tell her parents, Tessie felt she had nowhere to turn.

A friend recommended that she visit Sumter Pregnancy Center to confirm her pregnancy. And she did.

Tessie shared with her counselor that she didn’t see any way out of her situation accept to have an abortion. “Everything I’d planned for my life . . . all of my hopes and dreams . . . were gone in an instant. How could I ever have a future with a baby?”

After confirming that her pregnancy test was positive, Tessie’s counselor asked if she would mind watching a video about the choices other women in her same position had made. That’s when Tessie saw the truth. The video included ultrasound images of a seven-week-old baby in the womb.

“The baby was moving, kicking and clearly had arms and legs. It looked just like a baby. I knew at that moment that I couldn’t have an abortion, and I decided to keep my baby.”

That day, Tessie chose life for her child. The day she made that decision, she also chose life for herself – eternal life – when she prayed with her counselor to become a follower of Jesus Christ.