Daria Monroe remembers that when she had her fifth child, she told God that she felt like she had a full quiver. But then when her youngest daughter was 4, Monroe got a call that changed that feeling in an instant.
“Someone I know called me and said, ‘There is a young, single mother of a 1-year-old who is five-and-a-half-months pregnant, and she knows she can’t take care of another one, so she’s headed down to have an abortion,’” Monroe said. “Without even thinking, I said, ‘Can I have the honor of raising her baby?’”
Monroe’s question — and the mother’s “yes” — began a journey for Monroe’s family that’s allowed them to see miracles she never would’ve expected. Her newly adopted son, Nathan, had a lot of health struggles. He had fetal cocaine exposure, and he was in and out of the hospital.
“When Nathan was 4, I took the children to a film festival,” she said. “At that point, he was having grand mal seizures regularly. I was told at some point that one day he would either be permanently brain dead or die in my arms.”
But that night at the film festival, when the emcee gave an altar call, Nathan ran down to the front and gave his life to Jesus.
Finding purpose
“He’s never had a seizure since then,” Monroe said.
Now Nathan is a U.S. Army Green Beret, and Monroe said she knows God has a purpose for his life. That thought sticks with her as she goes to work every day as the executive director of Women’s Hope Medical Clinic in Auburn.
She’s been guiding the clinic there since 2017, leading the team as they have provided free pregnancy testing, options counseling, ultrasounds and prenatal care through 20 weeks of pregnancy.
They’ve also offered free parenting education, mentorship, resources and baby showers.
And in late 2021 they added a new facet to the ministry that’s close to Monroe’s heart — adoption. Before coming to Women’s Hope, Monroe had served as executive director of an adoption agency in Florida in addition to directing a pregnancy resource center.
Now at Women’s Hope, she was able to combine the two types of ministry.
With the help of onsite social workers, Women’s Hope offers support for women who would like to make an adoption plan, as well as helping match them with prospective adoptive families and providing post-adoption support.
Monroe said so far they’ve seen three mothers who were “abortion-determined” decide to place their babies with other families through the ministry’s services.
Celebrating lives saved
That’s three lives to celebrate, but she said even those don’t tell the whole story of the lives saved by the adoption aspect of the ministry. What they’ve seen happen numerous times is for a mother to decide adoption is a better option than abortion, then later — after they see the support Women’s Hope can offer them — decide to parent instead.
“It’s just been a blessing,” said Monroe, a member of Lakeview Baptist Church in Auburn. “If just one baby’s life is saved because the baby’s mom makes an adoption plan, it’s worth it. Whether she places the baby through adoption or chooses to parent, it’s a win for the Kingdom.”
Monroe said she’s seen the Church rise up to help in both scenarios.
“We have seen one after the other — hundreds, probably thousands of parents — who have shown that with the body of Christ supporting, they can make it,” she said.
She’s also seen families rise up and share their willingness to adopt.
“It doesn’t take a village; it takes the Church, and the Church corporately,” Monroe said. “That might be someone saying, ‘I can help with a baby shower,’ or ‘I can bring baby clothes,’ or ‘our church can offer financial assistance.’ There are so many ways to offer support.”
For more information, visit womenshope.org.
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