Sally, I think counseling is a great idea. I agree that we should try to make the best of our situations in life, no matter what they might be. And as you said, abortion or not, adoption or not, these women made the choice to raise these children. Having said all this, I think many of these women truly are trying to make the best of their situations, and some, like the original poster, have made wonderful strides. For those that haven't, and even for those needing improvement, counseling would be a great idea. The OP had a counselor that gave her very disturbing advice about her child though (which she didn't agree with), so it's important to carefully chose and get recommendations.