Pregnant and Abandoned: How One Mom Found Hope and Confidence

When Pei Pei discovered she was pregnant with twins, she was elated. She told her boyfriend, but was heartbroken to hear that he didn’t want the responsibilities of fatherhood. He demanded that she abort the babies. When she refused, he walked away and acted like she didn’t exist.

“I dreamed of being with a man who loved me and our children,” says Pei Pei, 25. “Not someone who despised me because I was pregnant.”

Five years ago Pei Pei came to Canada from China to pursue her education in the accounting field. When she learned of her pregnancy she knew she couldn’t return to her homeland.

“Unmarried motherhood in China remains taboo and is shameful,” says Pei Pei.

Sad, alone and hopeless, Pei Pei locked herself in her room and didn’t venture out or talk to anyone. Yet, in the midst of uncertain and frightening moments, Pei Pei was determined to look after the health of her unborn babies.

During a prenatal visit at the hospital, a social worker told Pei Pei of The Salvation Army’s Bethany Hope Centre in Ottawa, a multi-service centre for young parents and their families.

“Bethany Hope Centre helped me cope with pregnancy, taught me how to cook healthy meals and how to be a parent. Their Parent Enterprise Program (PEP) gave me knowledge and comfort that was powerful and life-changing.”

Parent Enterprise Program (PEP)

“Through the Parent Enterprise Program parents are exposed to a wide-range of options for education and employment,” says Shawna Norman, program coordinator. “They learn new skills in many areas, such as working as a team, time management, budgeting and creative repurposing of old items.”

PEP, with its full coaching, has taught Pei Pei how to create water colour cards and jewellery that she sells to help care for her twins.

“Creating makes me feel relaxed,” says Pei Pei. “And when I’m working the twins are in the centre’s day care, which gives me freedom and the opportunity to learn from and socialize with other women in similar situations as mine.

“Before PEP I doubted my abilities and was depressed. Now I am confident, hopeful and happy.

“I hope you like my work.”

For more information on the Bethany Hope Centre, click here.