Each year, about six million women in the United States become pregnant. Of those pregnancies, nearly half — 45% — are unplanned.

Most of the time, teenagers are the focus of such conversation, but many married adult women with children are surprised by unexpected pregnancies as well. They watch their youngest child enter elementary school, or their oldest graduate from high school, then discover they’re pregnant and starting over at stage one. They feel shocked, exhausted, and embarrassed.

Author Leslie Leyland Fields is intimately familiar with these women’s situation. She was 42, teaching full time at the University of Alaska, and raising four kids with her husband. Her youngest, age five, was about to enter school.

Then Leslie took a home pregnancy test.

When the test confirmed her suspicions, she felt a rush of despair and immediately told her husband. They sat together frozen in shock and disbelief. Just a few minutes into knowing about her new child, Leslie felt like a bad mother because she wasn’t excited about the prospects of welcoming a new baby into their family.

At Focus on the Family, we strongly believe that God is the author of life; no child is a surprise to Him. But we also know that not every woman feels immediate joy when surprised by an unexpected pregnancy.