HSE launch ‘My Options’ unplanned pregnancy support service

My Options is a new freephone service providing free and confidential information and advice to people experiencing an unplanned pregnancy. 

The phone line will be staffed by professional and experienced counsellors who will offer non-directive advice on all of the options a person has when they find out they’re pregnant.

My Options can be contacted on 1800 828 010 and at myoptions.ie.

What service does My Options provide?

My Options provides professional pregnancy counselling over the phone with a qualified counsellor, and can also arrange face-to-face counselling, if that’s what you’d prefer.

Information and support

The information and support that you receive from the counsellor will be non-directive, which means that they will let you know all of your options and help guide you through how you feel about each of your choices, but they will not tell you what to do. 

They can provide information on pregnancy services if you decide to continue with the pregnancy, on abortion if you decide you don’t want to continue with the pregnancy, or on adoption if that’s something you want to learn more about.

The phone line can also offer post-abortion counselling if you have had a termination and you want to talk to someone about it.

The counselling service is available Monday to Friday from 9am to 9pm, and on Saturday from 10am to 2pm

Medical advice

My Options also provides a nursing team who are available to speak to anyone who has recently had an abortion and needs medical advice. The nursing team can also provide information on accessing abortion services outside of counselling hours.

Medical advice from the nursing team is available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

Fake numbers and websites

The HSE have advised the public to be aware that there are some fake websites appearing online that are pretending to by the official My Options service. These agencies often try to pressure you into making a decision about what to do about your pregnancy. This can be distressing and may lead you to make a decision that is not your own.

When accessing information on an unplanned pregnancy, look for the HSE logo on the website, and choose agencies that are funded by the HSE to provide unplanned pregnancy counselling services. You can find a list of these HSE funded agencies here.

This is the official MyOptions.ie website

To contact My Options, call 1800 828 010 from the Republic of Ireland or +353 1 687 7044 from outside the Republic, or visit myoptions.ie