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This very busy shelter for unwed girls and women and Crisis Pregnancy Center, which we know today as Friends of the Unborn, began in 1984 in Marilyn Birnie’s home. At the time, Marilyn was living with her two daughters in their two-family home in Hull, Massachusetts. While watching a Christian program on TV, Marilyn learned about the serious problems so many girls face today when they find themselves pregnant. Oftentimes, parents will tell a girl that she has two options...abortion or leave their home. Boyfriends will often abandon the girl or offer her money for the cost of abortion. The pregnant girl is often desperate and chooses the abortion because she does not know of any other option.
After a great deal of prayer, Marilyn spoke with her daughters about the possibility of using their extra bedroom for a pregnant homeless girl. Her daughters said that they had no problem with this idea and would accept a girl and offer her support and friendship. Marilyn finally contacted Leslie Collins, Director of the Pregnancy Help office of the Archdiocese of Boston and asked if she needed a place for a pregnant a girl to stay. Leslie was delighted with the offer and indeed did have need of Shepherding Homes for homeless pregnant girls in crisis. Within a short time she sent an 18 year old girl to Marilyn’s home. This young girl moved in on a Monday in September of 1984, instead of keeping the appointment for the abortion her mother made for her that same day. That little unborn baby is now 23 years old, a beautiful girl and a blessing to her mom and grandparents.
Marilyn didn’t know on that day that this young girl would be the first of many homeless pregnant girls to be placed in her care. She realized that the Lord had prepared and gifted her to work with these wonderful young women and within 6 months had found space for 5 more girls in her home. Friends of the Unborn had become a ministry! Over the next twenty three years, three more residences would be open for pregnant women and girls, and a thriving Crisis Pregnancy Center would be established. During their stay, the girls attend classes in Parenting, Nutrition, Abstinence, Violence Prevention, Bible Study and more. They also provided counseling, referrals and networking services to their residents and Crisis Center clients. All of the residents are encouraged to further their education, and carefully plan for their futures. There are many wonderful success stories to be told about their “graduates” over these many years. Keep your eyes on this web site and you’ll see a few of these stories.
It is important to note that after young women deliver their babies, they come back to the home and continue their housing search. These dear residents and their babies stay for as long as it takes them to find a home of their own. Usually this happens before the baby’s first birthday. Of course residents must live by the rules of the home if they are to keep their residency.
Most importantly, the lives of many innocent, unborn children have been saved because of the unwavering commitment to the sanctity of all human life by Marilyn, the Staff and Board of Directors of Friends of the Unborn.
Marilyn once said at a pro-life rally in Boston,
“We win every time a child takes that long, often perilous
journey down the birth canal into the arms of a loving mother.”
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