What are your options for unplanned pregnancy in Massachusetts? Without question, pregnancy—no matter how you choose to respond to it, requires some decision. Specifically, you’ll have to think about how you’d like your future to look like. There are three general options available to women facing an unexpected pregnancy:
Which option is right for you will depend on your specific circumstances. If you are curious about any of your unplanned pregnancy options, you can contact us today to get more information.
In the meantime, keep reading to learn more about the pros and cons of each of your unplanned pregnancy options in Massachusetts.
Which Unplanned Pregnancy Option in Massachusetts is Right for Me?
Although there are different options for unplanned pregnancy in Massachusetts, expectant birth parents choose each one for a number of reasons. It might help to consider what matters most to you in order to make a decision.
Parenting in Massachusetts
If you’re pregnant, you might already be considering parenting. Parenting is right for a number of parents, but that isn’t necessarily the case for all parents. If parenting isn’t right for you, then you’ll have to consider adoption or abortion. If you’re struggling financially while pregnant, there are still some resources available to you, though, unfortunately, the social support blanket for expecting parents isn’t robust enough. There can be other local social programs available to support expecting parents that educate them and provide them with necessary resources.
For example, expecting parents may qualify for WIC, SNAP, and Medicaid.
- WIC – A program that provides very specific kinds of foods to mothers to ensure that they and their children (until they reach a certain age) have the necessary nutrition to live healthy lives.
- SNAP – (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) is a state-funded program that provides eligible applicants with funding for food. If you are eligible for SNAP, you may also be eligible for WIC. You can apply for SNAP here.
- Medicaid – A government-funded healthcare program that awards aid based on income levels.
There are also several other state-run social assistance programs available to you in Massachusetts.
Abortion in Massachusetts
Abortion is the medical termination of a pregnancy and is chosen by pregnant people for a variety of reasons. Abortion and adoption are two options available for parents uninterested in parenting. Some parents may need to terminate their pregnancy because of health concerns for either the child or the parent. Pregnancies can also be medically terminated for numerous other reasons.
Childbirth may not be what the parent saw for themselves and their future. Just as parenting is chosen for good reason, so too is abortion. Rarely, if ever, is abortion a cavalier decision. Instead, it is the result of deep care and consideration of competing interests.
Abortion in Massachusetts is legal when the pregnancy is less than 24 months. However, since Roe v. Wade was overturned, state law can shift over time. It is best to get up-to-date information from resources like Planned Parenthood. Specifically, the current restrictions for abortion in Massachusetts are:
- Must be 16 or older without guardian consent
- at 24 weeks, abortion is restricted to instances where the patient’s life or health is at risk, or there is a grave fetal anomaly
In general, there are two kinds of abortion:
- Abortion by pill – usually for pregnancies 10 weeks or less
- Surgical abortion – usually for pregnancies between 10 and 20 weeks.
If you want help for your unplanned pregnancy in Massachusetts, abortion may be right for you. But if medically terminating your pregnancy and parenting are unviable for you for whatever reasons, then adoption is right for you.
Adoption in Massachusetts
Adoption is when, following birth, a parent transfers legal custody of their child to another caregiver called their adoptive family. Adoption has many benefits and configurations. The benefits of adoption can include financial assistance for birthing mothers throughout their pregnancy to provide for clothes, food, and shelter, among other things. This can help a birthing parent no matter her context or situation throughout her pregnancy in Massachusetts. Similarly, adoption has several different configurations.
In general, an adoption is either open or closed. An open adoption allows for a relationship between the birth parents, the adoptive family, and the child. The degree to which an adoption is open is established by the birth parent: you could be removed from their life barring a few occasional updates, like photos by text, or you could exchange gifts and attend major life events of your child.
A closed adoption is when a birth mother does not have contact or a relationship with the adoptive family or their child following birth. In this kind of adoption, the adoption is mediated by an adoption specialist. No matter your situation, it’s important for you to remember what’s important to you. It’s essential that you make the best decision that aligns with the future that you envision for yourself, be it adoption, parenting or abortion. Here is a list of adoption agencies in Massachusetts:
What’s Next?
If you would like more information, you can fill out our contact form. Even though adoption specialists work specifically with adoption, they will have information about general resources available to those who are experiencing an unexpected pregnancy. As you’ve seen here, there are several options for unplanned pregnancy in Massachusetts—and you should always take the time to make sure that you make the right decision for yourself.
