One determined Catholic business woman has united 8,000 volunteers, including counselors, nurses, doctors, families, educators, and employers, in a network of love and practical support for women with crisis pregnancies.

Drawing upon her graduate education at Harvard Business School and her experience in the top management of two Fortune 500 companies, Mary Cunningham Agee launched The Nurturing Network in 1986.

She had begun to think about the plight of women in crisis pregnancies following a miscarriage two years earlier. "If I could feel the intensity of pain and loss of a child I wanted:" she asked, "how must other women have felt when they had been coerced by circumstances or people to surrender the life of their child to abortion? How deep was their grief or guilt?"

With these thoughts in mind, Agee drafted the first blueprint for The Nurturing Network. "Our research proved that those most likely to have an abortion are not uneducated, minority teenagers:" says Agee. "They are more often unmarried ‘middle class’ women between the ages of 20 and 26, who are at least high school graduates or are frequently in college or mid-career." Further research revealed that 8 out of 10 women interviewed who had an abortion said that if a real alternative had been readily available, they would have reconsidered their decision to abort their child.

Agee decided that the best way to help these women was to provide that "real alternative." The concept is simple; the logistics are staggering.

The Network provides, through hundreds of licensed nurses, social workers, and counselors, the vital advice for a woman’s physical, emotional, and spiritual well being. Competent and caring doctors provide medical assistance throughout all 50 states, assuring that both the pregnant woman and the unborn child receive the best possible care.

Every effort is made to create, if possible, a supportive system within a woman’s own family. A Nurturing Network counselor gives the woman advice on how to handle her family situation. Ideally, a woman should be able to draw on the support of her family to see her through the pregnancy. When, as has been true with most of The Network’s nearly 2,000 clients, she faces the hostility and demands of her parents or a mate who says she has no choice but abortion, Network volunteers will find her a home with a good and loving nurturing family, a warm and welcoming embrace of Christian caring.

Adoption counseling is also available through The Nurturing Network, but only if the mother believes that her financial, emotional, or social circumstances make it necessary for her to consider this choice. About 30 percent of The Network’s clients decide to place their children for adoption.

Counseling, housing, medical and spiritual care: Many other crisis pregnancy centers provide the same services. A unique feature of The Nurturing Network is its commitment to help its clients continue their education or career. With the support of cooperative colleges and universities throughout the United States, even in mid-semester, a woman with a crisis pregnancy can discreetly transfer to a comparable school.

Many enlightened corporations have also cooperated and accept The Nurturing Network’s clients for their talents - in spite of their pregnancy - and thus enable them to continue to be productive, self-sustaining, and self-fulfilling.

How does The Nurturing Network provide all of these services with only a tiny staff and no fundraising organization? Prayer is key. "Without prayer and the nourishment of the Eucharist each day:" Agee says, "I am sure that my efforts would be fruitless toil. Ministry without prayer is destined for failure." At Nurturing Network headquarters in Boise, Idaho, the 75 volunteers and staff members break twice a day for prayer - at 10:00 and at 3:00.

"Truly ‘pro-life’ volunteers" are also key to the ministry. Agee describes Network members as "people who believe intently that if you are ‘for life’ you must provide the means to support and nurture life on a very practical basis." She says they believe it is irresponsible and unfair to simply say to a woman, "Don’t have an abortion...I’ll pray for you:" unless you are prepared to provide her with loving support throughout her pregnancy and as long as needed thereafter.

Generous benefactors also help keep The Network going. The seed money for the ministry came from the sale of the Agee vacation home. Since then, The Nurturing Network has depended solely upon private donations to stay afloat.

The Nurturing Network’s goal in 1991 is to help another 1,000 women and save another 1,000 babies; in 1992 the goal is 2,000 women and the babies. If you’d like to help these women and their babies or want more information on The Network, you may call 1-800-TNN-4MOM.