CNS PHOTO | ENRIQUE CANGAS Young mothers gather at a church in Buenos Aires to discuss with Gravida volunteers topics ranging from diaper changes and pacifiers.

Three years ago, Aida Miranda found herself alone and pregnant in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires.

The young Paraguayan Catholic woman was so desperate that she began to consider abortion, which is illegal in Argentina.

“I felt a heavy moral burden, how could this have happened to me, I had a religious formation,” recalled Miranda, now 29, who once considered being a nun.

“I was terrified. Raising a child alone in Argentina is not easy.”

A friend told her about Gravida, the voluntary Argentine organization that accompanies young pregnant mothers until well after the birth of the child.

Miranda said it took all of her courage to go to her first meeting, and she was trembling so much that the volunteers had to physically help her inside.

She told Catholic News Service that she is thankful she took those first steps, though she is well aware that the road ahead of her as a single mother is a long and difficult one.

She was taken under the wing of Gravida psychologist Florencia Smurra, and today she supports herself and her son by cleaning houses.