The Women’s Pregnancy Center has just celebrated 40 years of serving women and families in Houston with life-affirming pregnancy help.
Since opening its doors on July 15, 1986, the Women’s Pregnancy Center has faithfully served the southwest Houston community as a Christ-centered, pro-life ministry dedicated to helping women facing unplanned pregnancies find hope, clarity, and support.
Founded through the combined efforts of three Fort Bend County churches, Women’s Pregnancy Center was established “to help a pregnant woman in a state of crisis understand her alternatives, provide counsel and information enabling her to make an informed decision about her pregnancy, and to minister to all who are affected.”
This past April, Women’s Pregnancy marked the milestone with a 40th anniversary banquet.
Over the years, “God has faithfully sustained us,” said Executive Director Stefanie Derrick. From its beginning, Women’s Pregnancy Center has remained a trusted place of help and hope for thousands of women and families, she said.
A primary focus is pregnancy testing and options counseling led by trained advocates. Each consultation provides factual information about fetal development and abortion procedures, accompanied by compassionate spiritual guidance.
In 2025, over 500 women chose to keep their baby with the support of Women’s Pregnancy Center.
Although abortion is illegal in Texas, Women’s Pregnancy regularly sees abortion-minded clients. The center is averaging about 1000 client appointments each year, mostly in the 25-35 age range. Thirty-eight percent are African American; 39% are not married; and the majority of the clientele’s highest education level is high school.
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Vivien Cox, director of Advocates, came to Women’s Pregnancy Center herself in need of help, and now shares her moving testimony with clients.
Cox was raised in a Christian home and never imagined she would one day have to flee from an abusive husband, but during four years of marriage, she suffered physical abuse and endured two miscarriages caused by the violence. She realized she had to leave to protect herself and after doing so she discovered she was pregnant.
Temporarily sleeping on a friend's couch, trying to rebuild her life, she was barely supporting herself. A friend advised her to get an abortion, which went against everything she had been taught about the sanctity of human life.
At the time, she did not know there were places that offered pregnancy help.
The numbness Cox felt emotionally lasted much longer than her physical recovery from the abortion. She tried to put the experience behind her, but her abortion became a silent grief that she carried for decades.
She first came to Women's Pregnancy Center to deliver baby items. There, she encountered a caring community of women lovingly helping women choose life. She asked about becoming a volunteer and first received counseling and began to heal
“For the first time, I was able to openly grieve, receive grace, and experience the peace and forgiveness that are found in Christ,” Cox said. The center shared her testimony with 40th anniversary banquet guests in April via video.
Over the years, Women's Pregnancy Center has developed a range of programs to meet the holistic needs of clients and their families.
With over half of the center’s clients having a high school education or less and more than half unemployed, Life Directions is a comprehensive education and discipleship program offered with classes in pregnancy, childbirth, parenting, nutrition, and Bible study. Personalized goals help clients build short-term and long-term plans for a God-honoring, hope-filled future. Clients earn incentive points through participation, redeemable for essential baby items in the on-site Baby Boutique.
Established in January 2007, the limited ultrasound services program allows women to see their developing babies, often creating an immediate emotional bond that encourages life-affirming decisions.
Women’s Pregnancy Center provides limited STI testing for clients whose pregnancy tests are negative. Through partnerships with local physicians, clients and their partner(s) who test positive receive care and treatment without an office charge. This program opens meaningful opportunities for conversations about healthy lifestyle choices and future goals.
Ongoing support is available through trained biblical counselors offering continued guidance for women seeking emotional and spiritual healing. Topics such as family dysfunction, abuse, abandonment, and self-esteem are addressed through Scripture, helping women become spiritually grounded and emotionally strong contributors to their families and communities.
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Women’s Pregnancy Center has produced two original educational films from client stories and mission-related topics, one titled, Honest Answers and the other, What About Abortion. These presentations visually reinforce counseling discussions. Honest Answers features real-life testimonies that advocate for life, while What About Abortion presents interviews with medical and psychological experts on the physical and emotional effects of abortion. Both have been distributed to pregnancy centers across the United States and Canada.
A grateful client underwent a transformation in deciding to come to Women’s Pregnancy Center when she found herself pregnant.
“I’m new to Houston, I have two other children I’m trying to care for on my own, I just can’t do this,” she’d initially said of her unexpected pregnancy.
“She had no support from any of the fathers of her children. No family in Texas,” Derrick told Pregnancy Help News. “She had moved here for a job and now found herself overwhelmed, isolated, and reaching out to us in true desperation.”
“Sadly, this is not an unusual story at Women’s Pregnancy Center,” said Derrick. “Many of our clients simply need to know that someone sees them, cares for them, and is willing to walk alongside them toward a healthier, hope-filled future. This young mother was no exception.”
But what happened next was extraordinary.
“Imagine a woman whose background, income level, faith, and life experience all differ from yours - yet she walks into Women’s Pregnancy Center and finds what she describes as her “grandma.” That’s exactly what took place,” Derrick said.
“A desperate phone call turned into an appointment where two strangers connected so deeply through Christ’s love that they walked out claiming each other as family,” she said of the client’s encounter with her staff member.
“Hearing them talk during follow up calls, excitedly planning for the baby’s arrival, encouraging one another, praying together, is nothing short of a God thing,” Derrick added.
What began as a small outreach supported by three churches has grown into a thriving, multifaceted ministry that has served tens of thousands of individuals, offering compassion, truth, and life-affirming care to generations of families in Southwest Houston and beyond.
