Published October, 2002
As Kim tells her story, one is struck at once by her special qualities. Her quiet, compassionate voice is evidence of the comfort she offers the women who come to see her. But as time passes, her quiet determination and commitment become apparent. They are the rock-solid bedrock of her 18-year commitment to helping and counseling pregnant women.
Kimberly Hackett-Schmidt is the Director of With Child, Ltd., a full-service pregnancy resource center. Dedicated to helping women make informed decisions, With Child offers free of charge pregnancy testing, referrals to Medical Providers, counseling on her options, assistance with adoption of she chooses, parenting mentorship, and material assistance.
“A woman who thinks she’s pregnant is going to find us through the phone book. We are listed under abortion alternatives,” Kim says. Even so, “we have quite a few people who call us looking for an [abortion] provider.” When these women contact With Child, they find counselors who offer an accepting and supportive environment where they can think through the abortion decision and what it means.
“Somebody walks in my door, I immediately send up a quick one-sentence of Lord, your words, not mine,” Kim says quietly. “We all have different things that matter to us.Where one woman would come in, I would talk with her about the medical risks of abortion, the breast cancer link, the potential risks of sterility in the future.Another woman, I might talk about post-abortion syndrome, the emotional risks of an abortion. I think it really depends on who the woman is, who God tells us she is.”
Kim has a heart for women considering abortion. “It’s from where I’ve been,” she shares. “I’ve made that decision personally to carry a child to term that was unwanted. I was raped when I was 14 and became pregnant. My baby was stillborn at seven and a half months.” Kicked out of her home because she refused to have an abortion, Kim made plans for her baby to be adopted. “I chose a family to raise my child,” she says. “Joshua didn’t live, but I made that plan.”
As a 14-year-old pregnant teen in the 1980s, Kim suffered for her decision to carry her baby. But she is resolute in her commitment to life. “I never, ever would regret not having the abortion. I had seen way too much loss in my life, having been abandoned by a mother and a day and shunned. An abortionI would have been abandoning my child,” she explains, “I would have been following in the footsteps of those who had abandoned me, and that was something I could not take part in.”
Years later, Kim feels no bitterness over her childhood struggles. They actually have prepared her to understand the emotional pain of women who return to her after having had abortions. “The regret is almost universal,” she says. “I have heard thousands and thousands of times, women speak of the regrets and the deep-seated regrets that they have from having an abortion.”
Many of these women seek Kim out to counsel their friends. “Those women bring in their friends,” says Kim, telling her, “‘I had an abortion when I was fourteen. My girlfriend is thinking of an abortion. Help me.”
Under Kim’s direction, With Child, Ltd. goes the “extra mile” in offering women the assistance they need to turn away from abortion and continue their pregnancies. Beyond the initial meeting, Kim and her staff offer women dedicated, hands-on, on-going counseling, which may include walking with her through the birth of a child and placing the baby with an adoptive family.
Serving 3,000 clients per year with a volunteer staff, the annual budge of With Child is less than $30,000 per year. As word of mouth spreads, the number of women coming to With Child has been steadily increasing for the past year.
After 18 years of serving women, Kim is as dedicated as ever. She and the staff at With Child, Ltd. are here to make sure of that each woman in a crisis pregnancy is recognized as a human being, deserving of compassion. “I never wanted a young woman to have to go through alone what I had gone through alone before.” And thanks to With Child, they won’t.
Contact With Child, Ltd. today at 602-788-5434. Kim Hackett-Schmidt is also available to speak to women’s groups and or congregations. She also invites anyone interested in helping With Child ministries to call. “Volunteer counselors, receptionists, childbirth and parenting educators, and handymen are always needed.”
_________________
NOTE 2013 UPDATE: With Child is growing and under the direction of Michele Murney. Michele took over the leadership of With Child upon the passing of Kim Schmidt in a 2009 auto crash. Kim is missed dearly, but her organization is thriving and continues to serve families.