1. What was your view of unplanned pregnancy before?

My view was that this event was a game changer for the people involved. One minute you think you are heading in a certain direction and have plans for what you are going to do, be involved in, etc.; and the next moment all that changes and you now have a responsibility that most likely you are not ready for.

 

2. How did you feel when you found out?

Disappointment. I actually said to Olivia what I wrote above: “Whatever you thought you were going to do in the next few years that has all changed. You just took a right and you are now headed in a totally new direction.”  Olivia and I had a rocky relationship at this time so I was concerned for her because I didn’t think she could do this on her own and she was not in a place where she would ask me for help.

 

3. When did these feelings start to change?

I started out wondering if it would be better for our daughter to let a good family adopt the baby but over time, we were more excited to bring this baby up as a family. It doesn’t really feel like our daughter is a single mum because we are all bringing up the Squish. When I had that talk with her siblings and we all had that feeling I started to get excited about the new adventure.

 

4. Did the church support you in your new role as a grandparent?

At this time we were starting to go to a new local church, so we didn’t really give the previous church a chance to go through this with us and the new church didn’t know our family yet. I will focus on capital ‘C’ Church. We were already in the process of applying to a one-year Bible college when our daughter found out she was pregnant. I called the school to speak with the director and told him about the situation. They accepted Olivia for a semester, and it went really well. Her heart warmed and she was really receptive to God’s word. It was a great move to have her go to that school during that time.

 

5. Besides the addition of a new member – how has your family changed?

I don’t really know. We always have been close, and I didn’t think any of us would distance ourselves from this situation. We came around Olivia and supported her in caring for the Squish very naturally.

 

6. Has your view of unplanned pregnancy changed?

I still do believe that an unplanned pregnancy will change your life forever but that needn’t be a negative thing. A new person in our family has been a huge blessing and we couldn’t imagine being without him.

 

*Olivia’s name has been changed for the purposes of sharing her story.