Option Line: Find 24/7 Pregnancy Help
Bilingual pregnancy help, plus real-time connections to nurses for telehealth consultations and to Heartbeat’s 3,800+ pregnancy help organizations worldwide.
Use the zip code locator at OptionLine.org to identify local pregnancy help locations.

Maternity Housing Coalition
Find housing availability nationwide for women. Plus, stay up-to-date on the 50+ new maternity housing programs launching in the coming year through the Heartbeat network. 

Prenatal Diagnosis
Help families experiencing pressure to abort following an adverse prenatal diagnosis find life-affirming medical help 24/7 and personal support through local parent care coordinators.

Abortion Pill Rescue® Network
Direct those considering or who regret starting a chemical abortion to immediate medical help for Abortion Pill Reversal worldwide.

PregnancyHelpNews.com
Follow the latest news of global pregnancy help and stories of hope.

PregnancyHelpPodcast.com
Subscribe for updating and equipping in your pregnancy help work.

—————————————————————————————————————    —————————————————————————————————————

 

To stay connected with the life-affirming pregnancy help community, follow Heartbeat International on:

   

Kathy Jerman

Director of Affiliate Services at Heartbeat International

Biography

Kathy Jerman joined Heartbeat International in October 2024 as Director of Affiliate Services, where she uses her gifts and passions to advocate for and equip pregnancy help leaders at both the state and national levels. She is committed to empowering leaders by reminding them they are not alone and providing the resources and support they need to grow in their God-given strengths and leadership journeys. Before joining Heartbeat, Kathy served as Executive Director of New Hope Family Services in Syracuse, NY, where she directed the programs and operations of their pregnancy center, adoption agency, and mobile medical unit. She also currently serves as the President of the New York State Coalition for Life, a network of pregnancy help organizations across the state. She is passionate about supporting state coalitions as they encourage and equip their member organizations to sharpen their mission and strengthen their impact, fostering unity across the movement. Kathy has been married to her husband, Mike, for 30 years. They have four adult children, ages 20 to 27.

Ellen Foell, J.D.

International Program Specialist at Heartbeat International

Biography

Ellen Foell, J.D., serves as the International Program Specialist for Heartbeat International, where she supports over 1,500 affiliates in more than 100 countries. With a background in law and ministry, Ellen first joined Heartbeat as Legal Counsel. After a season of writing and nonprofit advocacy, she returned to Heartbeat to focus on global outreach, offering training, mentorship, and strategic support to pregnancy help organizations. Ellen has represented Heartbeat at the United Nations and her work has taken her to countries worldwide.

A dedicated wife and mother of four, Ellen brings a heart for missions, years of cross-cultural ministry experience, and a deep commitment to life-affirming care around the globe.

Featured Articles

Connecting & Celebrating the
Pan Asian Pregnancy Help Movement

Register to join us in Singapore!

When: October 15-19, 2025
Where: Katong-Joo Chiat District,
Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy, Singapore

Heartbeat International invites you to join our first-ever Pan Asian Pregnancy Help Leaders Summit in Singapore! Join us for in-person networking, training, learning, and encouragement with like-minded leaders from the pregnancy help movement across Asia.

Details

Cost

• Affiliates: Registration, meals, and double occupancy accommodations* are provided at Heartbeat's expense, up to 2 people per organization.
• Non-affiliates, Option 1: USD 350.00. Includes meals, but not accommodations.
• Non-affiliates, Option 2: USD 575.00. Includes meals and double occupancy accommodations.*

*No matter your affiliation, Heartbeat will only secure double occupancy accommodations.

To become a Heartbeat International affiliate, click here!

Registration Details

• Space is limited so please do not wait to register when it opens!

• Please register by August 1, 2025. Keep an eye out for the registration link!

Workshops

Workshops will include client care, reaching your client, fundraising essentials, and more.

Questions? Please email Ellen Foell at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Registration Coming Soon! 

by Ellen Foell, International Program Specialist

In the western hemisphere, we have definitely entered conference time. In March, Board Chair Peggy Hartshorn was with our collaborating partner, Movimento per la Vita, celebrating MPV’s Jubilee year with a mass.

Later that month, Peggy also traveled to New Zealand to celebrate with New Life International.

In early April, I had the privilege to attend and present a couple of workshops with Pregnancy Care Canada (PCC) in beautiful Montreal. PCC, led by Dr. Laura Lewis, has been reaching and rescuing women in Canada for over 40 years. It is always interesting and helpful to see pregnancy care work differences and similarities, even when we are on the same continent. We asked Dr. Laura to share her thoughts about the continuing work in Canada in the article within this month's email of Heartbeat Around the World (May 2025). Thank you, Dr. Laura and her team, for your gracious hospitality.

In late April/early May, Heartbeat International hosted its own annual conference in Birmingham, Alabama, with over 1,600 attendees, including thirty international participants from twenty different nations, Albania to Zambia!

Simon Durairaj, from India, as well as Blandine Kemayou from Cameroon, shared on Wednesday night, highlighting what God is doing around the world in their respective countries to advance pregnancy help. Heartbeat opens its window for scholarships to this incredible opportunity in early December, so watch this space for access to the application. Click here for a peek at next year's conference location and theme, or revisit the Heartbeat Around the World email.

Finally, in late May, Heartbeat will be headed to the Balkan Network for Life Conference, whose leader, Svetlana Jovanova, was given the Servant Leader Award in Birmingham. Congratulations, Svetlana!

That conference will be in Montenegro, where the budding pregnancy help movement is hosting the conference. The Balkan Network has provided a free resource for Heartbeat affiliates, which is a webinar on Airtable, a free database management system, presented by Filip Petrovski. Thank you, Balkan Network for Life, and Filip.

Yes, lots of conferences. But ultimately, babies are not rescued, moms in crisis are not reached, hearts are not won, and lives are not changed through conferences, but through God’s people reaching out to those around us every day, in every opportunity. The vital training gained at conferences allows pregnancy help leaders to invest in their skills, their organizations, and themselves so that women can be reached and cared for most effectively. The most effective way to reach someone in crisis is another person. Thank you for what you each do every day, in as many circumstances as able, to reach and rescue the women, babies, and families in your nation.

Enjoy this issue of Heartbeat Around the World!

Hosted by Thrive Southwest Florida

Join us for our second regional event for maternity housing organizations!

WHERE

Thrive Southwest Florida
907 SE 5th Ave, Cape Coral, FL 33990

WHEN

June 10, 2025
10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Come at 9 a.m. for coffee and networking

Lunch provided.

by Valerie Harkins, Executive Director of the Maternity Housing Coalition

I’ve noticed a subtle but powerful pattern after years of walking alongside maternity homes across the country: the organizations that tend to thrive—not just survive—are deeply connected to others who do the same kind of work.

In fact, the difference is striking. Homes that weather economic instability, staff transitions, and shifting cultural tides often have something in common: consistent, intentional relationships with other maternity homes. They are not isolated. They are known.

This may sound like a soft metric—connection, relationship, community—but in this work, it’s essential. Maternity housing is uniquely complex and deeply spiritual. It requires strength and tenderness, policies and prayer, grit and grace. Not every leader understands that tension, but another maternity home does.

When homes connect with one another, something shifts. A director no longer feels like she’s holding the whole world together on her own. A new staff member finds wisdom in someone else’s hard-won experience. A program director rethinks burnout because she saw someone else model the Sabbath well. These relationships aren’t just emotionally beneficial—they’re structurally stabilizing.

In short, being known by others in this work makes your home stronger.

The body of Christ is not meant to function in silos, and neither is our movement. God has designed us for interdependence—not only within our own teams, but across the entire network of homes and ministries around the world.

I truly believe the next chapter of strength for maternity housing will not come from any single home’s innovation, but from the shared wisdom of many homes, leaning in together. This is not a sentimental idea—it’s a strategy for survival, and more importantly, for flourishing.

If you’re looking for a place to start, I invite you to join our Affiliates-Only Facebook Group, where we foster authentic connection among homes like yours. It’s also where we share invites to our networking meetings throughout the year, which are gatherings that remind us we’re not alone, but understood, and part of something far greater than we could build by ourselves.

Let’s build that strength together.

by Dr. Laura Lewis, Executive Director of Pregnancy Care Canada

We are in a Daniel time, not an Esther moment, and there are many lessons we can learn from Daniel's story. 

When King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem, Daniel and other young men were captured and thrown into the culture of Babylon, a culture that opposed their faith. Yet, God elevated Daniel to influence four different government administrations over nearly 70 years. He went from being a prisoner of war to an influential leader. 

Daniel gained favor and influence even while living as a stranger in a hostile land, not only because of his gifts but also because of his character and integrity. His life serves as a powerful example for us as we strive to engage with integrity and compassion to influence our communities and nation, allowing us to lead a broken culture rather than be led by it. 

Daniel’s heart remained devoted to God, even under pressure. His highest priority was not to gain influence with people, but to stay faithful to God, seeking the Lord before he spoke and exalting and glorifying Him. His example teaches us that when we do what is right, we can trust God to handle the outcome.

Daniel served with integrity. He was not for sale.

We may be tempted to waver for cultural acceptance or financial gain. However, there is a major difference between wisely discerning how to engage with a broken and unbelieving community and compromising for the applause or finances of man. Before doing anything, let us respond as Daniel did—in prayer.

We are to lead culture, not be led by it. To influence, not conform. 

Daniel understood how to build bridges. He led with wisdom and humility, which resulted in people trusting him. When people trust you, your influence grows—even in a corrupt and broken society. 

At Pregnancy Care Canada, we also aim to be bridge builders by:

• Bridging the digital reach through social media: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. We want to meet this generation where they hang out and provide trustworthy information and help.
• Bridging the gaps geographically with understanding by equipping churches and strengthening connections with local centers.
• Bridging services. We appreciate the expertise of many others working in the pregnancy help space and are thankful to collaborate with them.

Our actions don’t need to be grand or heroic, but they must be grounded in love. If we fail to understand love, nothing else truly matters. Our culture, our Babylon, is desperate for a manifestation of God's goodness.

One woman recently told me that the work done each day in local pregnancy care centers is one of the purest expressions of the gospel she has seen. Let us protect this space.

If we are willing to turn away from compromise, serve with integrity, build bridges, and choose to love as Jesus did, we will position ourselves for the long arc of influence and favour that will impact a broken world.

by Andrea Trudden, Vice President of Communications and Marketing

Some days, the heaviness of this work can feel overwhelming. When you’re standing in the gap for women facing unexpected pregnancies or housing young mothers searching for stability, it can seem like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. You may wonder if the little victories you witness day to day really matter in the face of the growing abortion industry and the spread of the abortion pill.

Take heart. You are not alone in this work.

At our conference just last week, we were powerfully reminded of this truth. We heard from Herbie Newell, bringing perspective from the adoption side of the movement. Dr. Ryan T. Anderson from the Ethics and Public Policy Center helped us understand the cultural and legal battle surrounding the abortion pill, while our international friends from Cameroon and India reminded us what it means to stand for life even when they feel like they’re fighting alone in their countries.

Each one spoke with conviction about unity—how critical it is that we work together as one body to battle effectively in this mighty fight for life.

While you are serving on the frontlines—meeting immediate needs and walking with women toward long-term hope—there are others in the body of Christ laboring alongside you, even if you don’t see them.

A recent report by the Ethics and Public Policy Center sheds light on the proven dangers of the abortion pill. This thoughtful analysis exposes the harm that comes to women through this dangerous drug and calls on the FDA to review it. What’s more encouraging, however, is the reminder that faithful men and women are actively pushing back. Organizations like EPPC, along with many others, are doing the hard work of policy, research, and advocacy—defending truth and protecting life behind the scenes.

You are part of something so much bigger.

Just as you serve with compassion and courage in your center, others are using their gifts to fight this battle in the courtroom, the legislature, and the public square. We are not each called to every part of the work, but together, we are building a culture of life.

As Scripture reminds us, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:12). Your role is essential. So is theirs. And together, God is using us all.

So today, if you’re feeling weary or unseen, know this: your work matters, and you’re not doing it alone. God’s people are rising up in every corner of this movement. He is not done. He is weaving all of our efforts together for His glory and the good of generations to come.

by Andrea Trudden, Vice President of Communications and Marketing

In the heart of every pregnancy help organization lies a deep belief: She can.

She can be a good mom.
She can finish her education.
She can raise her child and still pursue her goals.
She can overcome the voices that tell her otherwise.

Across the world, pregnancy centers and maternity homes are stepping into the silence left by fear and negativity, replacing it with truth, love, and unwavering support. When others tell a woman she has to choose between her future and her child, you—our friends in pregnancy help—step in to tell her she can choose both.

You don’t just offer words of encouragement—you equip her. Life skills. Parenting classes. Community. Diapers. Housing. Friendship. Hope.

One powerful example of this support is the Unplanned Movie Scholarship. Since 2020, actress Ashley Bratcher, known for her role in Unplanned, has partnered with Heartbeat International to bless women choosing life with the opportunity to continue their education.

Through this scholarship, a young mom can receive up to $20,000 over four years toward her education or education-related costs—whether that’s tuition, books, childcare, or even transportation. From GED tutoring to community college, trade school, cosmetology school, or a 4-year degree, the scholarship is designed to meet her where she is and help her take the next step forward.

Why? Because when a woman chooses life, she’s not just choosing for her child—she’s stepping into her own strength.

And she doesn’t do it alone.

She does it with the steady encouragement of someone like you—someone who stays by her side when the world walks away.

As Scripture reminds us:

“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” – Acts 20:35

Every training class that helps her with her future. Every resume workshop or GED workbook. Every childcare solution. Every application for a scholarship like this—it’s all part of your gift to her.

So take heart. The work you’re doing matters deeply. You are helping her dream again—helping her believe in herself as a mother, a student, a provider, and a woman made for more.

Your faithfulness is shaping not only her future, but her child’s—and generations to come.

Let’s keep giving. Keep equipping. Keep believing.

Because she can. And with your help, she will.