Dec 10 Dec 10 "He really did a number on me emotionally, and I was terrified of ever having another child because of it." Sharing Truth Four Abortions, U.S. “I lost custody of my child for a year even after I worked my way off of public assistance! My child’s father dragged me through a custody battle and raked me over the coals as public assistance made it hard to stay in one place. Not dealing with the emotional abuse caused me to fear having another child and then having the baby taken away.” Read more.
Nov 5 Nov 5 "I just wasn’t ready for the trauma and abuse that man could bring to our lives." Sharing Truth Four Abortions, Later Abortion, Location Not Given "My tubes are gone now so I’ll never worry about this again but I look back with sorrow sometimes and I think of my decisions often in today’s world. If I hadn’t chosen abortion or had the right to choose, my son wouldn’t be here. And I don’t know what kind of parent I would have been had at those times of my life. Ultimately I wanted to be the best parent I could. When the time is right, YOU KNOW IT. And when it’s not, you know it too. Trust your heart.” Read more.
Mar 10 Mar 10 "His texts would slut shame me for sleeping with him and getting pregnant." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, U.S. “My third abortion happened after my divorce. I meet a guy and we were talking. We seem very compatible and we discussed everything before we even got intimate. This including children and if I get pregnant he would want to be part of the baby’s life. We both had good jobs, income and we were mature. I was 33 and he was 36. There were some yellow flags that turned red in the months I was dating him. I tried to break up with him, but he would ask me to give us a chance.” Read more.
Feb 7 Feb 7 "I’m not in a good place despite my endless trying to find a new happiness -- a trap that many women fall into with their abusers." Sharing Truth Six Abortions, Location Not Given “The take away of my story? Abortion is stigmatizing to the point women believe that it will cause infertility. I’ve done medical abortions and one in stirrups surgically. All safe and legal of course, so maybe that’s why I’m still fertile? I just want my own life story to hold out hope for others that it is your body. Abortions don’t make you a horrible person. They are safe — unlike right wingers saying. You still get pregnant after! Even if sometimes you’re still with an asshole man that you know you can’t keep the baby with.” Read more
Nov 27 Nov 27 "If I could go back, I would tell my 19-year-old self that it’s okay, and that I was not doing anything shameful or wrong." Sharing Truth Two Abortions, U.S. “When our child was around two years old, I got pregnant for the third time. We simply knew we did not want any more children, and it was quite honestly an easy decision for me to choose a medical abortion. I still didn’t have a lot of emotional support, but I was fortunately in a safe living situation this time around, and had learned a lot more about sexual health through social media.” Read more.
May 14 May 14 "I was afraid of my ex who I had been with yet again and he scared me." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, Florida “My first abortion was my choice, I agreed with my ex we were in a hard place in our relationship and financially unstable. Less than a year later I was pregnant again. I had told him I didn’t want to abort, we were doing better and could figure it out, but he had other ideas which he pressured very hard for me to have another abortion.” Read more.
Feb 23 Feb 23 "Enduring those hardships was in itself truly hellish, and I try to remember that I deserve to move on and experience happiness and peace." Sharing Truth Six Abortions, Texas, U.S. “He was possessive and supported my addictions, and often he would have sex with me against my will and in humiliating ways. My boss also sexually abused me. I became pregnant four times while I was with my ex, on birth control two of the four times. He enjoyed knowing I was pregnant and felt that this made me in some way more his.” Read more.
Jan 14 Jan 14 "I have a feeling that we will break up and I don't wanna be a single parent again." Sharing Truth Five Abortions, South Africa “Last year I had a 4th pregnancy — the guy I was dating was abusive and he told me to terminate it and he even blocked me, so I had an abortion. This year I am dating this guy, he is nice. He is happy about me being pregnant, but I am not where I wanna be in life.” Read more.
Nov 7 Nov 7 "My abortions saved me." Sharing Truth Two Abortions, Texas, U.S. “He routinely told me he wanted to get me pregnant and that he couldn’t wait until we could have a baby. And one day it happened, my period was late and I took a pregnancy test and it confirmed my fears. I was pregnant. I told my boyfriend at the time and he blew up at me. Incredibly angry and volatile, telling me he couldn’t have a baby right now.” Read more.
Oct 26 Oct 26 "I don't feel ready for a baby." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, U.S. “My first abortion I was 21 and had to do it cause my ex was so abusive. My second I was 24 and I had to do it cause I was in college and the guy couldn't afford to take care of me and the baby.” Read more.
Aug 24 Aug 24 "It was a turning point for me and I got out of the unstable, abusive relationship I was in." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, Australia “My doctor at the time said to me “she feels that this is unethical for her to be helping me again but due to the circumstances and running into bad luck she will do it.” That made me feel a tremendous amount of shame which leads me to today, a third positive pregnancy test right before I start the career of my dreams.” Read more.
Jul 6 Jul 6 "I found my voice and power in my experiences of violence and trauma." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, Arizona “I lived in domestic violence as a pregnant person. I no longer wanted to be alive. Staying alive for my children was all I could think of. Whenever I take a moment to reflect on where I was just 4 years ago vs now, it's surreal to think of all the change, growth, fear, healing, and overall journey I have traveled.” Read more.
Jun 27 Jun 27 "I am forever grateful for the protection and salvation that abortion has provided for me." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, U.K. “I had my second abortion when I was nineteen. This time I was married, after it being arranged by my community, and he was physically, sexually and emotionally abusive. I feared what he could do to a child: if he treated me like that how would he treat his baby? I aborted to protect my child.” Read more.
May 15 May 15 "We never really ever forget, it will always be part of us, but we can move on and learn how to love ourselves the way we should." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, Arizona, U.S. “After talking to him , he refused to be a father. It didn’t matter how much I knew him, had memories with him, he just refused because he liked how his life was without children. But why did I have to pay for that pain? Anyway, I didn’t want to be a single mother of 2 kids so I had a surgical abortion.” Read more.
Apr 26 Apr 26 "I left him soon after, the violent outbursts turned me into a shell of myself." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, New York “I fell pregnant a second time at 23 when I was with my at-the-time homeless boyfriend. We'd bounce from abandoned house to abandoned house. It was an easy decision to let go. But it still hurt. The shame was stronger the second time around.” Read more.
Mar 1 Mar 1 "A five-minute procedure has given me a pretty great life." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, Ohio, Audio “I knew I was having my first abortion so I could have children later — to give them a life that I thought maybe they deserved and I needed to give them as a mother. And the same theory goes forward with my abortions after I had children. I knew what kind of life I needed them to have. I knew what kind of horrible life I was secretly in already trying to find a way out of abuse.” Read more and listen to the audio version.
Feb 1 Feb 1 "He left me while I was two months pregnant." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, New-Caledonia “I found out a few weeks later that the father was cheating on me and had left me for his mistress. He was abusive towards me for our three years of relationship so maybe we were not meant to have a baby and to be together, no matter how much I loved him and how much I wanted to believe that he was the one. I am now grateful this man is no longer in my life.” Read more.
Jan 29 Jan 29 "Not wanting to be tied for life to an abuser, I once again chose to end the pregnancy." Sharing Truth Two Abortions, North Carolina, U.S. “Both of my abortions were uneventful. I got an appointment, I went to the facility, and then I left. There were no looky-loos, no screaming protestors, no gruesome signs, and most importantly, no trauma and NO REGRETS!!!” Read more.
Aug 31 Aug 31 "You'd think being so 'pro-life' he would be anti-abortion for me, too. Nope." Sharing Truth Seven Abortions, U.K. Content warning. Child sexual abuse. “My stepfather is a ‘pro life’ advocate, petitioning outside of clinics, supporting anti choice politicians and going to the march for life. But, when I was 11 he got me pregnant for the first time.” Read more.
Aug 14 Aug 14 "I was so blinded by the love I had for him that I couldn’t see he didn’t love me or that I deserved better." Sharing Truth Two Abortions, Location Not Given “I was pro-choice, but if I was to ever get pregnant I told myself I’d always keep it. However, it’s easier said than done, especially when I know in my heart I can’t give my baby the life it deserves. I ended up terminating the second baby as well and I made a promise with myself that I’d never make any promises.” Read more.
