I am currently 22 years old and in my fourth year of Bachelor Studies. I had an abortion in April 2002 when I was 18 years old.
I was not in a serious relationship with the man I got pregnant with. We slept with each other from time to time from when I was 15 until I was 18 and during the last year we rarely used contraception. I did not want to go on the pill, condoms made sex less enjoyable, and he assured me that the withdrawal method worked just fine. I knew right after we had sex that I was pregnant, but I did not know about the morning after pill. Three weeks later I thought I was late and on a Sunday I bought an early pregnancy test. Sure enough there were two lines, meaning I was pregnant. I immediately called up the man who I had sex with and told him that we needed to talk RIGHT AWAY! We talked for several hours. He was clearly in favor of me having an abortion, but he said he would support me either way. At 4 am in the morning I climbed into my mother’s bed and told her I was pregnant. It was then that my mom told me she had also had an abortion. She agreed that an abortion would be best and the next morning she made some phone calls. Everyone told me it was ultimately my choice, but I now realize how subjective the word choice is.
By Monday afternoon I had an appointment for Wednesday at a clinic where they would, for $500, give me drugs for a medical abortion. Nobody could come with me to the clinic. I am still angry today at the man who did the sonogram. He printed out the picture and showed me the dot that proved I was pregnant, but he would not let me keep the photo. After the sonogram I was given some oral drugs and I was told if I didn’t start bleeding in 8 hours that I should insert two pills that they gave me, into my vagina. They also told me that I would be OK to drive home because the pain wouldn’t start for another 3 hours. Halfway home, only 20 minutes later, the cramps hit big time and it was probably quite dangerous for me to be driving. I didn’t bleed so I used the suppository which induced bleeding shortly afterwards. I drank lots of tea and watched way too much TV for the next few days.
I do no regret having an abortion. I am very excited about having the opportunity to go on after high school to higher education, which would have been more difficult with a baby. I still talk to the man who I became pregnant with, and sometimes we talk about how we feel about our decision. It is nice to have open conversations with him. I am currently involved with NARAL on my college campus and speak openly about my experience. In order to make abortions no longer taboo I think is important that we break the silence and tell our stories. Thank you to all the other women who had the guts to tell theirs!!
