Mission Statement

Mother's Choice provides and promotes loving, nurturing care for babies and children needing permanent homes, and for single girls and their families facing crisis pregnancies.

Our Stories

Mother's Choice was founded in 1987 by a small group of people concerned with the plight of Hong Kong's single women, their families and boyfriends coping with crisis pregnancy.

It all began when four individuals living in Hong Kong saw a crisis and a solution. A series of articles in the South China Morning Post in 1987 highlighted an alarming and sad situation that no one seemed to be addressing. Hundreds of teenage girls every month were experiencing crisis pregnancies. With no one to talk to for good information or advice on their options, many were keeping their crises secret as long as they could, then slipping over the border to Shenzhen, China, for abortions that were often in third trimester, and dangerous, even life-threatening.

In the 1980s, a pregnant and unmarried teenager faced intense stigma and criticism that her actions broung disgrace and problems to her families. There was a wide gap in the Hong Kong community and the schools with regard to sex awareness and education; sexuality and pregnancy were simply not talked about at home or at school; many of these girls felt that their pregnancy had to be kept secret from their families or they would be kicked out of their homes. They had nowhere to go, no support from the community and knew of no other choice than abortion.

With heavy hearts, the four individuals determined that someone had to step forward and offer a better solution for these young people. Helen and Gary Stephens and Phyllis and Ranjan Marwah believed they needed to do something to help the many pregnant teenage women in Hong Kong who were feeling lost and fearful because of the stigma attached to crisis pregnancy. Despite the challenges of creating a new non-profit organization out of thin air, Phyllis, Helen, Ranjan and Gary moved ahead with their idea and reached out to scores of other people for help. Their vision was for a safe and non-judgmental place where scared teens could pause and make well-informed decisions, get good information on the three challenging choices in front of them, and put their lives and those of their families back together again. Through a miraculous outpouring of community support from their friends and volunteers from every sector of Hong Kong, Mother's Choice was born. The new organization soon gained a reputation for a special kind of loving care and professional, holistic service.

Today, almost a quarter of a century later, close to 35,000 young women, their parents and boyfriends, have benefited from counseling, information, and a caring heart at Mother's Choice. We have gone on to develop other related programs to provide loving care for thousands of babies on their way to adoption, and impactful education on sex and relationships for hundreds of thousands of young people across Hong Kong – so that they can avoid crises in their lives. Through pregnancy services, care for babies and children awaiting homes, loving foster care, promoting good understanding of adoption, and care for children with special needs, Mother's Choice has changed lives and raised awareness of the ongoing, urgent needs of young people, children and families in need of a loving, helping hand…

Our Milestones