"I had to think of my other kids who would have suffered, because I could not afford to take care of them all."

This story is published at Shout Your Abortion.

I have had 2 abortions in my life and I was so thankful that Planned Parenthood helped me through them. They were at different times in my life and I chose to do it for different reasons each time.

The biggest reason was I could not afford to have any more kids, and the men decided not be in the picture.

Also, I found out that I was pregnant with twins on the second one. As much as I wanted to keep all of my babies I had to think of my two other kids who would have suffered because I could not afford to take care of them all.

I do not regret my decisions at all, even though I do miss them and the idea of a life with them.

Being an adult means you have to make hard decisions for you and your family as well as living with the consequences of those decisions.

I fully support Planned Parenthood and the good things that they do there. Many people don’t realize that they offer a wide range of services that have nothing to do with abortions.

I took my daughter to one to get a check up because she was in between insurances at the time and needed to see a doctor. I would get my yearly pap smears there because I didn’t have insurance. And even when I could have gone to my doctor for the abortion I chose to go to PP because I knew they were a lot more compassionate about it.

And when I told the nurse that I really couldn’t afford to have another baby all by myself, she understood exactly and didn’t try to talk me out of it. She knew how hard it already was for me and didn’t make me get any more emotional.

Accidents & mistakes happen. Most people think we are careless and just know that we can get an abortion so we take risks or chances, and this is not the case.

If we had time to prepare then we would have gone on birth control, but sometimes you don’t have time and think one time will be ok.

For me, one time was all it took and I got pregnant.

Well I hope there are many others who want to share their stories and to know we are not alone. I think this is a great movement and I hope it makes a difference in people’s lives. We should not shame people for no matter the reason!

~Brandy