Kaliya’s Journey
“I started coming for resources, but now it’s a lifestyle.”
These are the words of new mom, Kaliya, who came to sav·a·life for the first time in 2022 to confirm her pregnancy. Her life since then has been nothing short of a journey.
When Kaliya found out she was pregnant, she couldn’t believe it. She frantically began asking friends and family what to do and was told to call the Alabama Pregnancy Test Center. After confirming her pregnancy, the nurse performed an ultrasound, and all she remembers is the “bah bump bah bump” of the heartbeat of her baby.
While Kaliya was questioning if she was ready to be a mother, hearing the heartbeat of her baby and seeing him on the screen planted a seed deep within her. Unfortunately, in the moment, fear seemed to win out and Kaliya made an appointment to have an abortion 8 hours away in another state.
But, the seeds of life took root in her heart, and she couldn’t bring herself to make the 8 hour trip later
that week. Kaliya decided to parent her baby boy.
After Santi was born, things were off to a good start, but then she and her partner broke up leaving her unemployed, with no place to live, and alone with a tiny baby. “I just kept thinking about the people at the pregnancy center, and I knew that they would help me like they had before,” Kaliya said.
She was right. Kaliya and Baby Santi came back to the clinic and she said she received so many resources for her current circumstances. After that first day back in the clinic, Kaliya started coming to education classes. She said they helped her in the ways that she needed help, even when those ways were unexpected.
One of the biggest unexpected blessings has been the community that she’s built with other new moms in the Mommy & Me classes, where she brings her now 5-month-old baby boy. She said that she has cried with these moms multiple times and they just surround her with love and understanding.
“They encourage me to keep going,” Kaliya said. She is excited about this new beginning with her sweet boy and the special community they have at sav·a·life.