Need Help?
If you're pregnant and need help, call our Hotline at 1-800-GLADNEY (1-800-452-3639), or use the on-line form located in the "I am Pregnant" section of the Gladney Center's Web site. All information is held strictly confidential.

Tell us what you think!
We want to know what you think about our Web site - too much stuff? not enough stuff? something you'd like to see included? Tell us about it! We just might put your comments on this page!

• I think this program is awesome and so helpful because you are helping the kids out to where they have parents and a good stable home. -Sue
• I am so glad this site is available. 17 years ago when I chose adoption it wasn't. It's a great site loaded with information and it's approachable. Great work! -Audra
• I love the site. Good info!!!! -Brooke
• I think your home is so wonderful. 23 years ago my husband and I adopted a little girl there. Her birth mother was only 13 years old. She and you gave us such a beautiful gift. Our daughter now has a baby girl of her own. Thank you Edna Gladney for giving us our beautiful daughter and thank you for helping so many young girls and families to be. -J. Hamilton
• Your site is great. -Valintino
• I love to hear about the teenage mother stories. -Lindsey
• I loved reading the article about the girl who is 17 and pregnant and what she went through. I just wanted to say that I am 16. I am not pregnant but I do feel for those girls out there because it is hard. I live with my dad and my mom is in jail because she let drugs get the better of her. I miss her every day so I just wanted to thank you for having this great Web site and magazine where I can rely on reading about other people and what they go through. Know that it is hard no matter what but we can make it through. -Brandy
• I just want you to know I really enjoyed looking through this Web site, even though I was crying the whole time. I'm 16 and I just placed my son for adoption 4 weeks ago. It's nice to know there ARE people out there who understand and have gone through the pain I am experiencing. It's hard when no one around you or any of your friends understand what a loss it is. -Alice
• I think the stories were great. One of my good friends just found outht hat she is going to have twins . . . -Jessica
• I am a 16 year old who is pregnant. I was very scared when I found out I was pregnant. I didn't know what to think. I would always think it would not happen to me but know it's something I am going to have to deal with. -Maria
• I am a 17 year old who was adopted. By reading this site, I hope I can spread the word on adoption and try to convince people to place their baby for adoption instead of having an abortion.

• "It is really hard to believe all this. I think this site will definitely help moms and others. Thank you so much!!! :) -Vanessa

• "I think this part of the site has really improved the site as a whole. I placed my son for adoption through gladney in Oct. of '99 when I was 17 and I know that living at Gladney and being able to be around all those wonderful girls going through the same thing I was going through was a big help to me. The people who work at Gladney were also a huge help. Thanks for the great site and the great stories posted." -Jenny

• "Well I am a birth mother that has used your program. I just wanted to thank you for helping out through all this. I love your website and wish there was more to read. Thank you so much!!!" -Erica

• "I think teen pregnancy is scary. I am 15 and pregnant. I hope girls can realize it is harder for them than the male, but if you choose to have sex remember the responsibility. Lots of luck to all pregnant teens and I hope luck comes my way too!" -Nicole

• "I think your web site is great and you don't have to much stuff. I to was a teen mom and I also give up my baby when I was just 18 so I think this web site is wonderful." -Kasandra

• "I LOVE THE BIRTH MOTHERS STORYS!" -Ashley

• "Thank you for your kindness and willingness to help out adopted children to understand about what their birthmothers went through." -Mindy

• "I THINK THAT YOUR STORIES ARE THE MOST HELPFUL RIGHT NOW. AT THIS POINT IN MY LIFE I NEED ALL THE ANSWERS I CAN GET. THANK YOU GREATLY! ALL I NEED NOW IS THE STRENGHTH TO OVERCOME THIS OBSTACLE IN MY LIFE. THANK YOU AGAIN." -Joey

• "You should put some videos on-line of girls talking about what is was like to give up their children." -Katy

Question of the week!
We'll put some of your answers up each week. Come back next week, see what others think, and answer another question!

This Week's Question: Do you have any friends who placed a baby for adoption?

Last Week's Question: What do you think would be the hardest part of being a teen mom?

• This is one answer I have heard from MANY teen dads -- SCARED - Amanda
• Pregnancy is hard, especially for a teen - Chanine

Why do you think guys usually (85% of the time) leave the girl to raise the baby by herself?

• I think that the guy usually leave because they feel that they don't need to be responsable for the child and that the mother should decide what's best for both her and her baby. - Ashley

• I think most boys have different methods of coping then we do. We actually feel the baby, and feel an attachment and sense of responsibilty to the child. It's not in their bodies, so they can't even begin to understand! - Katharine

• I think they leave because they feel like if they just ignore it...everything will go back to the way it was before. It will come back to haunt them one day. - anon

• Because they are scared and most of them young. They aren't carrying the baby so they aren't able to feel the joy of knowing that a living baby is growing inside you because of you. -Anne

• I think the biggest reason guys leave is because they have the choice to do so. When I was pregnant, there were plenty of times I would have LOVED to run away from all of the emotions and heartache I was facing. I don't think they always leave beacause they're "mean" or don't care. I think they leave because they are scared and they can! -Anne

What qualities do you think it takes to be a good parent?

• "Being a good parent is to patiently and wisely learn how to respectfully treat your child as a person of his or her own. At the same time, a parent insistently instructs self-control, responsility & discipline while encouraging the child's talents & abilities." -Suzanne

• "It takes a great deal of patience and more love than you ever thought you had!" -Martha

• "I think it takes love and kindness to help a child grow in every way." -Lindsay

Why do you think some teenage girls want to have a baby?

• "I think they want to have babies because they don't get attention or the love they need so they think that having a baby will make it better. Also because they know the baby is going to love as well. They know that their child is going to give them the love that they need since they don't get the love at home." -Antoinette

• "Some teenage girls want a baby because they do not feel they themselves have been loved. They feel they have so much love in them and want to give that love to someone. Their parents are too busy or don't care about them (or that's the way these girls feel) and they want someone to love like they feel they were never loved." -Rhonda

• "i am fourteen years old. i know 5 people who are pregnant. i am pretty sure they all intend to keep their babies. that is really sad because adoption is the best choice, especially for someone as young as me." -Erica

Why do you think adoption has such a bad reputation?

• "I think that TV and movies make adoption seem really bad and negative, even though it's not like that at all." -Amy

• "I think people just don't know what they're talking about. My cousin gave her baby up for adoption and she loved her baby more than anything. She didn't have a job or anything, so she chose parents that could take care of her baby." -Dillon

Got a question? Need more info?
For questions and additional Adoption Education information, contact Jennifer Lanter or Karin Matula for assistance. If they don't have the answer or the information you need, they'll find the person who does! E-mail jennifer.lanter@gladney.org, or call (817) 922-5968 or karin.matula@gladney.org, or call (817) 922-6073.

For more information on the Gladney's programs for pregnant women, adoptive parents, and adopted persons, along with specific information requests and contacts, the fastest way to find what you're looking for is to check the Gladney Center's Web site map.