Shining light on maternity group homes for women in Florida

By Mike Kiniry

Published October 23, 2024 at 1:16 PM EDT

Kristina Atwood in Palm Bay, Fla. on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. After Atwood lit incense in her bedroom at Genesis House in Melbourne, Fla., one night in June 2021, she was told to wake her two children and leave immediately, she said. The home’s director, Kristen Snyder, said employees had warned Ms. Atwood that fire of any kind was not allowed. Ms. Atwood said she did not recall any warnings. “I had nowhere else to go,” she said. (Photo by Scott McIntyre for The New York Times)

Maternity group homes for young pregnant women and mothers who are homeless or lack support have existed in the United states since the 1800s.

Often established by religious or charitable organizations, early maternity homes aimed to provide what was seen as moral reform. But then in the mid-20th century when attitudes toward single motherhood began to shift somewhat, maternity homes began to provide more social services and support rather than focusing on moral reform.

The number of these group homes declined starting around 1970 after the U.S. Supreme Court made birth control legal through two landmark decisions: Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965 - which made birth control legal for married couples — and Eisenstadt v. Baird in 1972 which extended constitutional protection for the use of birth control to unmarried people.

But according to Heartbeat International, a national anti-abortion nonprofit that supports maternity housing, the number of maternity homes has grown by nearly 40 percent in the past two years.

We talk with the reporter whose recent feature story in the New York Times digs into maternity homes in Florida. “These Maternity Homes Offer Sanctuary, but It Can Feel Oppressive” highlights how some of these homes in Florida are licensed and regulated, and are subject to oversight and inspections — while others don’t face oversight or inspections that are made public.

Guest:
Laura C. Morel is a reporter for Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and is currently reporting for the New York Times’ Local Investigations Fellowship.

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