Displaying items by tag: option line journey

by Andrea Trudden, Vice President of Communications and Marketing

Last year, Option Line surpassed 2 million connections with men and women facing pregnancy decisions. That is five times the number of connections from the year before and the highest annual total in the program’s history.

It is an incredible milestone worth celebrating.

But the real story is not the number. The real story is what the number represents: women reaching out for help at all hours of the day and night… and finding someone there.

Roughly 40 percent of those 2 million connections happen outside typical business hours, where we could just hand them off immediately to local pregnancy help.

They happened late at night, early in the morning, on weekends, on holidays, and in moments of panic, pressure, and urgency. These are the hours when most brick-and-mortar pregnancy help organizations are closed. And these are often the exact moments when a woman is searching online, looking for answers, and deciding what to do next.

Option Line exists for this reason.

We ensure that when a woman searches for help at 1:00 a.m., she does not find silence. She can find a calm voice, accurate information, and a direct path to real, local support.

When she wants to talk to someone directly, we answer the call. If she wants to find her own information, our center locator guides her to the services she needs and, when possible, allows her to schedule an appointment with her local pregnancy help organization. 

Option Line is intentionally built to work with the pregnancy help movement, not around it.

Almost all of these connections result in a referral to, or an appointment with, the local pregnancy help organization for the services you offer in her town.

For many women, the first compassionate conversation they have happens with Option Line in the middle of the night. The next step in that journey is walking through the doors of a pregnancy help center.

In this way, Option Line becomes an extension of your organization after hours. We give pregnancy help centers a 24/7 presence even when the lights are off and the doors are closed.

Behind every connection is a woman who is actively looking for help in real time.

She may be facing pressure from a partner. She may be scared and alone in a dorm room. She may be a mother unsure how she will care for another child.

What she needs in that moment is not a voicemail. She needs a person.

Option Line consultants and Option Line Plus nurses provide a listening ear, health education, and clear next steps, often guiding women toward local pregnancy help organizations where they can receive hands-on care.

Fear turns into clarity. Isolation turns into connection. A late-night search turns into an in-person appointment.

Why This Matters for the Movement

This record year is evidence of two things happening at the same time:

1. The need for pregnancy help is increasing.
2. Women are actively looking for life-affirming support at all hours.

And because Option Line exists, they are finding the help they need.

This is a story pregnancy help organizations can share with supporters. It shows that pregnancy help is not limited to a building with only office hours. It is a coordinated, always-available network of care ready whenever a woman reaches out.

As this need continues to grow, many pregnancy help organizations are beginning to think more intentionally about how they can be present for women beyond their open hours.

More affiliates are exploring ways to offer after-hours telecare or dedicated hotlines so that when a woman connects with Option Line overnight, there is an even more seamless bridge into their local support, expediting speed to service.

It is a natural next step in strengthening continuity of care and ensuring that no woman ever feels like she has to wait for help.

Reaching 2 million connections is a powerful achievement. But what matters most is this: At every hour of the day and night, women are reaching out. And together, the pregnancy help movement is there to answer.

That is something worth celebrating.

Since 2013, Option Line has served as a vital ministry of Heartbeat International, providing hope and connection for women facing unplanned pregnancies. Through the years, God has used this life-affirming service to Reach and Rescue as many lives as possible through an effective global network of pregnancy help. Option Line continues to connect women to compassionate care, trusted resources, and life-affirming support when they need it most. In 2025, we celebrate a remarkable milestone—more than 2 million connects made with women around the world seeking pregnancy help. This achievement reflects Heartbeat International’s mission to Renew communities for LIFE by ensuring no woman and no child is ever beyond the reach of hope.

by Nafisa Kennedy, Director of Option Line

On the evening of February 16th, 2006, I arrived at a quiet brick building in Columbus, OH. A few cars were in the parking lot as I walked toward the door. I took a nervous deep breath, carefully entered my entry code on a keypad, and wondered what my first shift on the Option Line hotline would be like. My colleagues, some of whom I met for the first time that day, welcomed me as if I were family (between calls, of course). I observed that same warmth and kindness as I heard them connecting with our callers that night. 

My first hotline shift was 6 hours long, and I still remember that I spoke with twenty-six people. My colleagues told me it was a quiet shift, but as a young professional with a heart for missions, I left with a heart bursting with gratitude for the opportunity to serve twenty-six souls in as many different cities! Not only was it incredible to speak life to them, but I knew that their next step would be a visit to a local pregnancy help center. What an honor to be part of a vast network of support which always leads back to the Lord our God! At the time, I was unaware of just how much God was already at work at Option Line, and I couldn’t have imagined all that He would do.

Later that year, we received an email from a mom who said she had called and spoken to someone by my name. When Sarah initially called she was considering abortion, but because of the support she found through Option Line and her local pregnancy help center, her email contained a photo of her (the mother) and her newborn child, absolutely beaming. She had not forgotten our late-night conversation, and she wanted to say thank you.

Up until 2012, all Option Line staff lived in the Columbus area and reported to the office for every shift. As a 24/7/365 operation, Option Line consultants would arrive and depart from our building at all hours of the day and night, in every season, too.  In 2012, we began testing remote work with our Columbus area team during the overnight and weekend hours. Thanks to innovative technology, and God’s leading, we hired our first fully remote team member in 2014, and this year more than 60% of our team is remote. We’ve even had our consultants answer calls while in Guatemala, London, and Mexico; advancement in technology can bring many unexpected blessings!

Some things never change though. We still have an incredibly dedicated team of people-loving servants. Just recently, one of our consultants went into labor during her hotline shift; she chose to serve other moms until the time was near and was holding her own baby within two hours of her last hotline call.

Another aspect of our service that has not changed is our approach to people: respect and empathy are integral to Option Line culture.

“My caller says she reached out a year ago and spoke to me. She remembers my voice. She was raped a year ago and reached out to our helpline. She reminded me how she felt alone and that she decided to tell her husband…they kept the baby! She said that God heard her cries and they got help at their local center. Her baby is now 10 months old!”
- Sylvia, Option Line consultant

Option Line was developed on a solid foundation by its early leaders within Heartbeat International. God has ordained every step forward, and we have seen His blessings through those serving, as well as the people we serve. While my first shift on the hotline resulted in twenty-six calls, it is not uncommon for a hotline consultant today to speak with over 100 people per shift. During that first year, we celebrated reaching a quarter million contacts; as of our 22nd birthday, we have reached 7 million. To God be the glory, forever!

__________________________________________________

Click here to learn about Option Line's impact today and how we've expanded our modes (digital, emails, texts, chats, and calls) of making over 370,000 connections per year.