I am 22 years old. I had an abortion a little over a month ago now. I had one semester of college left and was in a relationship with someone for almost a year. We were having some trouble in our relationship when I found out I was pregnant. I couldn’t believe it. I take my pill religiously. However, a month and a half before I found out I was pregnant, I had bled through the entire month and been having some body problems. The doctors think my body wasn’t reacting well to the low dose pill I was on. I had been feeling sick all the time, my breasts were super tender and my period hadn’t started when I stopped the pill. This was right before my last semester started so I freaked out.
I called my boyfriend and told him. He was amazingly supportive. We had already had the discussion before we became sexually active about what we would do in case of pregnancy, so we both knew I’d be getting an abortion. I have always been pro-choice, I just never thought I would have to actually make that decision. He was out of town at the time, but was coming home that Friday. I met him at the airport and he told me everything was going to be all right. I cried a lot.
We went to Planned Parenthood that day. At the time I was unemployed because of school and he had just changed jobs, so he hadn’t received his first new paycheck yet. I was so scared about paying for the procedure and going through it. They did the ultrasound and discovered I was 6 weeks pregnant. This meant I could use the pill procedure. They sat down with us and helped us figure out how much they could afford to help us with. They saved us over $100 on the procedure.
We came back the next week to do the actual procedure. My boyfriend paid for most of the procedure since he still had some money in savings. They did another ultrasound, talked to me about what was going to happen and then the doctor came in and gave me the pill. I went home and my boyfriend stayed over with me. The next day I took the expulsion pills. I had some bad cramping, which my boyfriend rubbed my back to help and I took some ibuprofen; I felt a little nauseous, but they had given me pills for that as well. I only told my boyfriend, one of my roommates (who was actually pro-life but he understood why I had to make the decision I did and stood by me in it, and also doesn’t think he should really have a say since he’s male), and one friend. My roommate was there the day of the cramping etc. I actually cooked dinner for us all that night to help calm me.
I started school later that week and continued with my life. Having a baby at 22 was not an option. I was still in school, I have some medical issues that make me skeptical of whether or not I want to chance passing them on to children, and I had NO money and would have had no support from my family. I don’t regret my decision at all. This brought my boyfriend and I closer because of the support he gave me and our ability to come together as a couple when we needed to. I am so thankful to PP for the experience I had, their amazing nurses, etc. And I am so thankful I live in a place where I was able to get a safe abortion legally.
