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Sonya
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These Are Our Stories
As many teenagers do, I had quite the rebellious phase in high school. I was having a lot of psychological problems that caused me to partake in "high risk behaviors" like risky sex. I had been having unprotected sex with a lot of guys since my freshman year in high school, but two months into my senior year, I realized that I had entirely missed my period. I took a test and found out that I was pregnant. I struggled with the decision that came with finding out I was pregnant - should I keep the baby, give it up for adoption, or have an abortion? Each time I came to what I thought was a decision, I'd change my mind and rethink the entire thing. I knew that the logical decision was to have an abortion, but I could have this baby. I had enough money to start off on my own. I could do this. But I ended up realizing that I wasn't ready to have a child in the first place, let alone raise one. I had spent my entire life thinking I was an adult, but in reality, I needed to grow up and make a decision. I went to the clinic by myself and had an abortion. The guilt that came afterwards was horrifying. I knew that no choice was a good one for me, but I chose the one that enabled me to continue growing as a person and to one day provide my future children with the best life they can possibly have. It wasn't my time.
Abby
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Madeleine
I haven't been in a position to need to make a choice and I have not needed an abortion. But I have held the hands of at least half a dozen girls, some of these girls (all under 25) were friends. At least one, had previously declared she was my avowed enemy, but had no one else to turn to in her circle of religious extremist and very conservative friends and family. It breaks my heart to think that she couldn't trust those closest to her to support her and to love her. I have never doubted these women's intelligence or ability to make this choice and I plan on leaving an open door and an open heart for any woman who needs me to be there for her, even if no one else will.
Anonymous
I wanted this baby. I'd prayed and hoped and dreamed of him. I already have two children - beautiful, funny, crazy children who make me insane and happy and insanely happy all at the same time. I wanted this baby 4 years ago, when the kids were younger and my husband and I were younger and we had the strength and energy and resources for a baby. Now, though, we're tired and too overtaxed by work and aging parents and the stress of parenting pre-teens. So we made the only choice that made sense when that little stick showed a plus sign. We went together - lucky to have a Planned Parenthood clinic in the same town where we live. We cried during the ultrasound that showed the pregnancy at 39 days. We cried with relief that a medication abortion (the "pill") was an option and we cried in horror a the confirmation that it was actually happening. It's been nearly a week since the original test put us on this awful road and sometimes I think the grief will bury us - even though we know it was the only choice we had. I'm infinitely grateful for the staff who guided us through the process with grace and love. The doctor who cried with me as I swallowed the first pill, the nurse who held my hand while I cried through the "counseling," and the receptionist who smiled in the most reassuring way as I cried all over her forms. I hate that this was the decision we had to make but the little ecosystem that is my family wouldn't have survived otherwise.
Anonymous
I always did things that were too old for me. At 13, I lost my virginity on a beach to a boy I had only known for a few days. At 14, a boy I had known for four months, we’ll call him J, got me pregnant. As most 14-year-olds do, I thought I was invincible. Sure, pregnancy and STDs happen to other people who have unprotected sex, but it couldn’t happen to me. And J and I were going to get married someday, anyway. I promised myself that everything was going to be alright. When I missed my period (I was always regular, and wasn’t on birth control), I knew something was wrong. I pushed it to the back of my mind for a couple of weeks until I knew I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I was throwing up every morning and hadn’t been to school in days. When I told my mother, sitting outside with cigarettes between our fingers, she told me that she already knew. She told me to make an appointment at Planned Parenthood for an ultrasound, and asked me what I was going to do. I had no idea. J was excited. He wanted to be a daddy, he wanted a boy named Andrew. I tried to get excited; I knew that this was supposed to be a positive thing in every woman’s life, right? J and I finally settled on setting up an open adoption after my ultrasound appointment. I was six weeks, two days, according to the machine. The nurse let me keep a screenshot of my pregnancy. J was still excited, even if we weren’t going to be parents. He told all his friends and family about being a daddy, even if he wouldn’t be the primary daddy in it’s life. I still wasn’t so sure. I was 14, and non-stop sick. I fainted in the shower and nearly drowned. My mother and sisters were all teen moms - they never got to live their lives the way they planned. We lived in poverty, and I knew I didn’t want that for myself. I made the appointment before telling J. April 8th, 12:30pm. $650 up front. My mom paid. I told J, and while he was reluctant, he eventually agreed that it would be the best situation for us. I was ten and a half weeks along on the day of my appointment. The actual abortion procedure was uneventful, other than speculums hurt. The nurses and doctors were all lovely, supportive, and warm. They took care of me. It’s been a few years since I had my abortion, and I’ve never once regretted it. I kept waiting, influenced by anti-choice propaganda, that I would regret my decision, that I would become depressed, that I would think of myself as a murderer. While these feelings are perfectly normal and common, they weren’t mine. I didn’t have a baby. I had a blob of financial distress and broken career dreams. I had a three generation cycle of teen motherhood and poverty that I refused to accept for my future. My abortion empowered me. The fearless staff at Planned Parenthood never tried to steer me in any direction, and reminded me countless times that this was my choice. If I had to, I would do it all over again. Abortion is not a shameful secret. Abortion is healthcare. Abortion is good.
Natalie
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Danielle
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Carol
I wish I didn't have to do this anonymously, but my family's careers would be ruined. My mother married young, her and my father were right read more >
Anonymous
Children. Abortion. Religion. Health. All of these were factors. My first sexual experience was not pleasant read more >
Anonymous
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Anonymous
I was suicidal. I was going to have an abortion when I was 15 a freshman in high school having started giving oral sex in 8th grade read more >
Amy
I used to be one of those women who said that, while philosophically I believed in a woman's right to choose, I knew that abortion read more >
Suzy
Abortion. How do I put this? I have been pro-choice since before it was ever a 'choice'. I remember talking with my mother read more >
Anonymous
It was a few weeks after my birthday, three years ago, that I found out I was pregnant. I was on the pill, and was strict about read more >
Anonymous
I have never regretted my decision to terminate my pregnancy in 2002. I was broke, in a new relationship, away from my family, read more >
Emily
I am a type one, insulin dependent diabetic and have been since childhood. At the age of 17, none of my doctors felt comfortable read more >
Carolyn
Unwanted abortion began with unwanted sex while I was incapacitated after a bike accident. Age 24. My boyfriend. Don't think he meant read more >
Anonymous
I was 17 and accepted to the University of Michigan. I was the first one in my family to go to college. That summer I worked read more >
Anonymous
My story is from a rather unique perspective. I was born of a woman who was raped, who was very poor read more >
Anonymous
I was 15 when my boyfriend and I became pregnant. I didn't even have a driver's license, how was I going read more >
Anonymous
I was 20 weeks along in my pregnancy when one summer morning I started to bleed read more >
Anonymous
At the age of 16 I was forced to move out of my mother's home. I didn't have anywhere to go read more >
Kendra
I was in my first job and did a really stupid thing. Today, I know better. But, I was young, then. I was a paralegal in a large law firm. One of my read more >
Cathey
I had an abortion when I was 22. I was in a relationship that was only a few months old. My boyfriend did not want me to have an abortion, read more >
Wendy
Abused as a child and sexually abused as well, I had little examples of good parenting. I was raped at 19 and gave birth to a son. My parents read more >
Anonymous
I was 18 and with the man of my dreams. Life was perfect. Or at least I acted like it was. I had always been Pro-Life and when I got that positive read more >
April
I was just graduated from Michigan State University and I found out that I was pregnant after being on the birth control pill. I was on read more >
Jen
A year ago I found out I was pregnant. One month before I found out I had surgery and prior to going under anesthesia I took a test read more >
Anonymous
My husband and I had been married less than six months when I found out during a study abroad trip in China that my hormonal birth control read more >
Anonymous