Mapping Your Decision
You’ve explored your needs and your options. Now it’s time to bring it all together.
Think of this step like a map. It won’t tell you where to go, but it can help you see where you are, notice what may be in the way, and identify what you may still need.
The goal here isn’t to eliminate every tension. That may not be possible. It’s to help you understand what you’re choosing, what’s shaping that choice, and discover what matters most to you.
Give yourself permission to take it one step at a time. Clarity can emerge as you bring the pieces together.
It's not about rushing you toward an answer. It's about giving you a map so you can find your way.
What Your Map Is Showing You
Your Whole Self gives you a way to look at this decision from more than one angle. Each part of your life matters, and each may be affected differently by the options in front of you.
No option may fit every part of your life perfectly. Looking at each area can help you see more clearly how the options affect you as a whole.
Let’s explore what each part may be bringing to the decision.
Emotional
Your feelings, hopes & fears
Relational
Your relationships, support & pressures
Practical
Your stability, responsibilities & resources
Physical
Your body, health & well-being
Spiritual
Your beliefs, values & convictions
Explore each option through your Whole Self.
As you consider Parenting, Abortion, and Adoption, use the five parts of your Whole Self to look more closely at how each option could affect your life.
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Parenting
Parenting
This decision includes continuing the pregnancy and raising the child yourself.
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Abortion
Abortion
This decision includes ending the pregnancy through a medical or surgical procedure.
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Adoption
Adoption
This decision includes continuing the pregnancy and making a plan for the child to be raised by another family.
Parenting
Parenting means continuing the pregnancy and raising the child yourself, either on your own or with support from family, friends, or a partner. It involves long-term responsibility, daily care, and shaping a child’s life and well-being over time.
Looking at Parenting Through Your Whole Self
As you consider parenting, notice how it may affect each part of your Whole Self.
- Emotional: What feelings, hopes, fears, or concerns come up when you imagine parenting?
- Relational: Who would you want to walk with you here, and if that support is not available, how does that affect this path for you? As you think about parenting, whose expectations, opinions, or beliefs are influencing you most?
- Practical: What would parenting ask of your daily life, responsibilities, finances, school, work, or future plans? What practical concerns feel most important to consider?
- Physical: What would your body and health need during pregnancy, birth, recovery, and the months that follow?
- Spiritual: How does parenting fit with, or create tension with, your beliefs, values, convictions, and the way you want to live?
- Integrative: What feels gained with parenting, and what feels lost? What feels workable, and what feels hardest to reconcile?
You’ve now looked at parenting through the five parts of your Whole Self.
Take a moment to consider what stands out. What feels workable? What feels difficult to reconcile? Is there anything you still need to understand or get support around?
Based on what you’ve learned, can you see yourself choosing parenting?
Abortion
This decision includes ending the pregnancy through a medical or surgical procedure. It involves medical care, legal considerations that vary by location, and emotional processing that can differ greatly from person to person.
Explore Abortion
Adoption
This decision includes continuing the pregnancy and making a plan for the child to be raised by another family. It can involve choosing the adoptive family and deciding the level of ongoing contact, while allowing you to carry the pregnancy without taking on the role of parent.
Explore Adoption
Abortion
Abortion means ending the pregnancy through medication or a medical procedure. It involves medical care, legal considerations that vary by location, and emotional experiences that can differ from person to person.
Looking at Abortion Through Your Whole Self
As you consider abortion, notice how it may affect each part of your Whole Self.
- Emotional: What feelings, hopes, fears, or concerns come up when you imagine having an abortion?
- Relational: Who would you want to walk with you here, and if that support is not available, how does that affect this path for you? As you think about abortion, whose expectations, opinions, or beliefs are influencing you most?
- Practical: What would you need to know or have in place to pursue an abortion? What practical concerns around timing, cost, access, or support feel most important to consider?
- Physical: What would your body and health need before, during, and after an abortion?
- Spiritual: How does abortion fit with, or create tension with, your beliefs, values, convictions, and the way you want to live?
- Integrative: What feels gained with abortion, and what feels lost? What feels workable, and what feels hardest to reconcile?
You’ve now looked at abortion through the five parts of your Whole Self.
Take a moment to consider what stands out. What feels workable? What feels difficult to reconcile? Is there anything you still need to understand or get support around?
Based on what you’ve learned, can you see yourself choosing abortion?
Parenting
This decision includes continuing the pregnancy and raising the child yourself, either on your own or with support from family, friends, or a partner. It involves long-term responsibility, daily care, and shaping a child’s life and well-being over time.
Explore Parenting
Adoption
This decision includes continuing the pregnancy and making a plan for the child to be raised by another family. It can involve choosing the adoptive family and deciding the level of ongoing contact, while allowing you to carry the pregnancy without taking on the role of parent.
Explore Adoption
Adoption
This decision includes continuing the pregnancy and making a plan for the child to be raised by another family. It can involve choosing the adoptive family and deciding the level of ongoing contact, while allowing you to carry the pregnancy without taking on the role of parent.
Looking at Adoption Through Your Whole Self
As you consider adoption, notice how it may affect each part of your Whole Self.
- Emotional: What feelings, hopes, fears, griefs, or concerns come up when you imagine choosing adoption?
- Relational: Who would you want to walk with you here, and if that support is not available, how does that affect this path for you? As you think about adoption, whose expectations, opinions, or beliefs are influencing you most?
- Practical: What would pregnancy, making an adoption plan, placement, and life afterward ask of you? What practical concerns feel most important to consider?
- Physical: What would your body and health need during pregnancy, birth, recovery, and after placement?
- Spiritual: How does adoption fit with, or create tension with, your beliefs, values, convictions, and the way you want to live?
- Integrative: What feels gained with adoption, and what feels lost? What feels workable, and what feels hardest to reconcile?
You’ve now looked at adoption through the five parts of your Whole Self.
Take a moment to consider what stands out. What feels workable? What feels difficult to reconcile? Is there anything you still need to understand or get support around?
Based on what you’ve learned, can you see yourself choosing adoption?
Abortion
This decision includes ending the pregnancy through a medical or surgical procedure. It involves medical care, legal considerations that vary by location, and emotional processing that can differ greatly from person to person.
Explore Abortion
Parenting
This decision includes continuing the pregnancy and raising the child yourself, either on your own or with support from family, friends, or a partner. It involves long-term responsibility, daily care, and shaping a child’s life and well-being over time.
Explore Parenting
Making Sense of What You've Learned
You’ve now considered each option through your Whole Self. Take a moment to step back and look at what you’ve learned.
What matters most to you? Which tensions feel workable, and which feel harder to reconcile? Is there anything you still need to know or any support you still need?
You may not have every answer, but you may understand more clearly what you are weighing and why. That clarity can help you move toward a thoughtful decision.
Still Unsure About Your Decision?
This is really hard.
If you still feel stuck or unsure, that’s a sign you may need more support, information, or space to sort through what remains unresolved.
Explore a few additional tools you can use on your own or with someone you trust.
Dig into the Whole Self Approach™
Every woman’s journey is unique. Our guided Whole Self Approach™ helps you consider the emotional, relational, physical, practical, and spiritual dimensions of your Whole Self as you move forward.
Want to keep exploring?
Unexpected pregnancy can impact many areas of your life. Every part of your life that matters to you is allowed to be considered here.