Youngest volunteer is second generation to assist at Birthright
Published 12:00 am Monday, April 29, 2002
Omar and Trisha Jaureghui are a young couple with a 6-month-old daughter, Zoe. Trisha is a stay at home mom and is also the youngest volunteer for the Birthright organization in Austin.
"My mother was a volunteer for Birthright when I was younger. When I first thought I was pregnant, I went to Birthright for support," said Jaureghui.
Birthright offers freepregnancy tests and guidance for those who have an expected or unexpected pregnancy. The volunteers at Birthright asked Jaureghui if she would be willing to be a volunteer.
"I thought it would be a good idea to try it. I hoped that the young girls that came in would be more willing to talk to me.
The young girls that do call Birthright are more apt to come in when they hear a young voice on the telephone line," she said.
There are still a lot of young girls ages 14, 15 and 16 that are getting pregnant. Jaureghui says often they are thrilled with their pregnancy and don't realize the responsibility they will have raising a child. The young girls think that their boyfriends will be staying with them and that they are really in love. The reality often is that when the baby is born, the father often is no longer around.
"Many grandmothers are raising their grandchildren. The new mother goes back to school and if the baby goes to day care, often the grandparents pay for the day care. The same new mother often has repeat pregnancies. There are young mothers that are my age, which is 20, that have four children by four different fathers. We offer counseling to these young women and try to ask them what they want out of life," said Jaureghui.
Besides counseling and free pregnancy tests, Birthright refers clients to Medical Assistance and they give away free clothing from newborn size to 4-T. The Keepsake Quilting Club makes free baby quilts for Birthright and these are distributed to newborns. Maternity clothing is also available for expectant mothers.
"We don't just get teen mothers. Sometimes we get women that have several children come in and we offer support to them. We are a pro-life group. We don't give out contraceptives or suggest that a woman get an abortion. We do have woman come in for free pregnancy tests. Sometimes we do the pregnancy tests and it is not accurate, but this doesn't happen too often," said Jaureghui.
There are two women who head the Birthright office, Colleen Branton and Judy Gerlach.
"Young mothers don't know what they are getting into when they have a baby. I am fortunate that I have a supportive husband and can be at home with our baby. It is good to have the father involved. I have never seen
a guy come in with an expectant mother at Birthright," said Jaureghui.
Helping women and teens become mothers and not being afraid or depressed is what Birthright is about and what Jaureghui likes about being a volunteer.
Call Sheila Donnelly at 434-2233 or e-mail her at newsroom@austindailyherald.com.