(HLI) — Baby Zsófi’s life began with more risk than many. Thanks to the intervention of Human Life International, a global pro-life training and advocacy organization, this little Hungarian girl’s future looks bright.
Dr. Imre Téglásy, director of Human Life International Hungary, shared the story of this baby whose life could have ended way too soon. Because of Human Life International’s Adoptive Parent Internship program and a life-minded RN, Zsófi’s mother was given the life-saving choice she desperately needed.
“Hanna, her husband, and their three young children were living in poverty in a small Hungarian village that is infamous for its high suicide rates,” Téglásy explained. When Hanna conceived, despite being on birth control, she hid her pregnancy — primarily to keep it secret from her mother who had already deemed the couple as irresponsible for having more than one child. When Hanna discovered she was with child, she realized that turning to family for support would not be an option.
Abortion in Hungary is regulated under a 1992 act that seeks to protect fetal life and is not generally legal after the first trimester of pregnancy. Access to abortion requires a woman to seek counseling from a midwife at the Family Protection Service at least twice and wait 72 hours before the abortion may be performed. While Hanna was not abortion-determined, with her baby at about 14 weeks’ gestation, Hungary’s laws curbed any attempt to consider an abortion.
Hannah sought adoption assistance from health authorities. Being told she was too early in her pregnancy to discuss it, Hanna continued to hide her growing belly until she was six months along and tried again.
A Human Life International-trained nurse serving with the Family Protection Service caught wind of Hanna’s story. The RN, Erzsébet, contacted Téglásy’s adoption program and soon Hanna received a visit from Júlia and Tibor, who would eventually become baby Zsófi’s adoptive parents.
Human Life International Hungary operates an Adoptive Parent Internship program. Couples like Júlia and Tibor, who wish to become adoptive parents, volunteer with the organization for up to 2 1/2 years. Through this program, open adoptions are handled free of charge to birth mothers and adoptive parents, and the volunteerism is geared to help prepare families to welcome a newborn baby and understand the life-saving work done to protect babies and birth mothers from abortion.
Having previously adopted their first child and interning with Human Life International, the two experienced parents set about reassuring Hanna about their concern for her and her baby. In Hungary, it is forbidden for either a birth mother or prospective adoptive parents to receive any financial benefit from the transaction, but Júlia and Tibor were able to help Hanna, her husband, and children with material goods that they desperately needed.
Hanna agreed to an open adoption of her preborn child. As the time neared for baby Zsófi to be born, doctors advised a risky caesarean delivery. Skilled physicians were able to manage the birth without resorting to surgery and the tiny little Hungarian entered the world outside of her mother’s womb, healthy and loved.
“I feel good that Human Life International is with us,” Hanna shared. “Even this winter, after Zsófi was born, especially because I still don’t get any support from my mother. She doesn’t know that we gave our fourth child up for adoption to a wonderful couple.”
“We are very, very grateful to Hanna, Zsófi’s birth mother, for taking great care of her baby throughout her pregnancy,” said Júlia, Zsófi’s adoptive mother. “Our parents, Zsófi’s grandparents, were waiting for her! We thank God that both of our parents are still alive and play a major role in the education and care of our children.”
And the baby is doing well, according to adoptive father Tibor. He reported that “Zsófi is healthy, much stronger than most other babies her age.”
“Zsófi’s life is a miracle,” added Téglásy, who as an abortion survivor views his own life as a miracle too. “In her desperation, Hanna could have pursued an abortion, but thanks to the intervention of a Human Life International-trained nurse and loving adoptive parents mentored by Human Life International, she chose to give her baby life. We rejoice in this precious child and seek to provide all abortion-vulnerable women this life affirming opportunity for them and the children.”
In October 2023, Júlia, Tibor, and big brother Peter welcomed Zsófi into their home. Along with Hanna, they await a time in the future when Zsófi — raised by her parents of heart and soul — will be able to meet her biological parents and siblings.
Reprinted with permission from Human Life International.