Real Alternative Counselors Focus on Forming Close Bonds with Clients

Real Alternatives is a nonprofit, taxpayer-funded organization that provides pregnancy support, parenting assistance, and abortion alternatives to women throughout Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Indiana. In an interview with Peter Kay of K-LOVE’s Closer Look, Real Alternatives CEO and president Kevin Bagatta discussed the organization’s counselors and their commitment to forming close relationships with clients through their mantra of being “caring, confidential, and compassionate.”

Many women with an unexpected pregnancy who come into a clinic lack family support or feel pressured from their loved ones to terminate their pregnancy. The program’s staff encourages clients to share their thoughts and opinions and helps them to navigate their unique situations. In addition, they help families to clear up miscommunications about each other’s assumptions, especially in cases where the mother mistakenly thinks that her partner doesn’t want a child. These engagements focus on empowering women and helping them to explore the various alternatives to abortion.

Another important aspect of the program is the bond that counselors form with their clients. Counselors offer services and resources throughout the mother’s pregnancy and assist her in taking the necessary steps for parenthood or adoption. This can involve referrals to adoption agencies, educational classes on parenting, or help in acquiring the items needed to care for their infants. Furthermore, the counselor-client relationship continues after the mother gives birth, as the organization offers postnatal support for up to one year.

The Miracle of an Unborn Baby’s Development

Real Alternatives reaches out to women and their families in Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Michigan to administer state-funded programs focused on pregnancy and parent education programs. The Harrisburg-based organization works through close to 100 centers in Pennsylvania and dozens of additional locations in the other two states. Real Alternatives’ services include distributing free pregnancy tests, offering compassionate and confidential counseling, and providing extensive connections to information on adoption. 

The organization supports its pro-life perspective by referencing current scientific information on the unfolding of an unborn baby’s development in the womb. 

The gender and genetic inheritance of a baby is determined at the moment of fertilization. As the baby’s body develops, it passes through three distinct trimesters.

In the first month of development, the baby already possesses the outline of a face. Nerve cells have begun to form, and circulation of the blood begins. During the initial trimester, the baby’s fingers, toes, and sense organs develop.

In the second trimester, a medical professional may be able to detect a heartbeat. The muscles and skeleton continue to strengthen, and the skin develops. The baby already has the ability to suck its fingers and can both hear and make swallowing movements. 

During the third trimester, the baby frequently responds to outside stimuli. It often moves frequently, and lungs, brain, and reflexes have become finely developed.