Displaying items by tag: 2 million

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.