Jul 4 Jul 4 "It’s such a personal choice for mostly the woman but for the man as well." Sharing Truth Four Abortions, U.S. “I’m a male who’s been through four abortions with two different women.” Read more.
May 22 May 22 "It would be completely unfair to bring another child into the current environment." Sharing Truth Two Abortions, U.K. “Second time round I am 34, I’m trying to be more open about my plans but seem to be met with society pressure because I’m a happily married woman. Bu. . . and here’s the but . . . our circumstances and situations despite our strength as a couple are met with great difficulty.” Read more.
May 10 May 10 "I always wanted to be a mother, but circumstances made me make other decisions." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, Mexico “In addition to not having support from my family, the man I became pregnant with threatened and blackmailed me into having an abortion. I had to leave the house and go to a hotel, because it was unbearable to stay in that place with them telling me so many bad things. They harassed me through messages and social media and I had to block them and delete them from my life to preserve my mental health.” Read more.
Feb 6 Feb 6 "Both these last two, contraception has failed, which feels like a massive kick." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, Location Not Given “I can’t believe I was that unlucky!! I feel awful but I have two children already and unfortunately there is no way I could afford a third.” Read more.
Feb 3 Feb 3 "We were both on the same page and agreed it wouldn’t be fair to us or the child to have it." Sharing Truth Two Abortions, Massachusetts “I am still with the same boyfriend and thank goodness I have him by my side to support my decision again. It’s our bodies babe, if we don’t want a child, we deserve and have the right to make that choice. And even though we make this educated choice, we are still allowed to grieve and mourn and navigate all the confusing emotions.” Read more.
Jan 25 Jan 25 "What hurts most is the way it happens, surrounded by stigma, judgment, guilt from society. Lo que más duele es la forma en que sucede, rodeado de estigma, juicio y culpa por parte de la sociedad." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, Brazil, Spanish/English “What hurt me the most was that I wanted to continue with the pregnancy, but I had to make another decision because of the circumstances. I knew it would be painful and I would feel guilty if I brought a child into the world without being able to provide the minimum for him, growing up without a father.” Read more.“Lo que más me dolió fue que quería seguir con el embarazo, pero tuve que tomar otra decisión por las circunstancias. Sabía que sería doloroso y me sentiría culpable si trajera un niño al mundo sin poder brindarle lo mínimo, creciendo sin un padre”. Leer más.
Dec 10 Dec 10 "As the weeks went on, the initial excitement wore off and turned to depression, dread and terror." Sharing Truth Two Abortions, Canada “This will be my second abortion. My first one was a very tough decision and I felt shame for years after. That’s why I didn’t think it was an option this time. But it is. I’m so so grateful for this compassionate group and my access to abortion. It changed my outlook on my decision and cleared my conscious. I don’t feel alone anymore or that I have to justify my choice. Tears of joy. Thank you to everyone who has shared their story- they’ve all helped me so so much!” Read more.
Sep 10 Sep 10 "The sense of relief washed over me almost immediately." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, U.S. “My second one was right when I found out my Dad’s cancer was terminal. My sister had just announced her first pregnancy with her husband—they were elated. But there was a massive elephant in the room. She wouldn’t have a grandpa by the time she was born. Amidst all this, there I was, pregnant, and no one knew. Not only did I not want to be a mother, how the fuck could this happen NOW? Worst timing ever. I drove myself to that same clinic, a state away.” Read more.
Aug 2 Aug 2 "I had a bad childhood and have no family, and I don’t want to continue my genetics on to another person." Sharing Truth Two Abortions, Canada “I am 24 and with a different long term partner. When I found out, I was upset, but immediately knew I needed to terminate. I’m living in a basement, I’m poor and can barely take care of myself. I found I grew some attachment for a brief couple of days, but ultimately, this procedure was much easier emotionally. I don’t regret it or feel like I made a mistake.” Read more.
Jul 7 Jul 7 "If I hadn’t chosen those abortions, these two beautiful children I have now wouldn’t be here with me today." Sharing Truth Five Abortions, Canada “I had my first child at 18 years old. I was an alcoholic soon after. I did my best with my child but eventually lost custody of him due to my addiction when he was a year old. Shortly after, I found out I was pregnant again. I had been drinking for months and did not find out until I was 12 weeks along.” Read more.
Jul 7 Jul 7 "He never once thought about how this could affect my mental health." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, California “All he cared about was how he wanted this second child. He wanted a playmate for child number one, who is on the spectrum, which within itself is a lot of work with them being a toddler and having that disability. So once the second abortion was done, he really went overboard and in some ways is trying to trap me, though I have been using a birth control that works for me and happy that I was able to have such.” Read more.
Jul 3 Jul 3 "Due to my troublesome childhood I had decided years ago that I would never want to be a mother." Sharing Truth Two Abortions, U.S. “Lucky for me, the procedure worked, even though I was so early in my pregnancy. I was relieved and thankful that I had the privilege of having the option to terminate. Fast forward to now. I haven’t been nauseous but my breasts have been extremely tender. I woke up this morning, 1 day before my expected period, knowing I needed to take a test. Sure enough, pregnant again. The appointment has been made, I will be terminating this pregnancy as well.” Read more.
Jun 23 Jun 23 "I grew up in the church and that’s where all of my shame resided." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, Delaware, U.S. “Although making the choice to not be a mom each time was by far the hardest decisions I’ll ever have to make, I don’t regret them. I’m here to tell you that there is light at the end of those dark tunnels.” 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.
May 11 May 11 "Due to my severe fear of pregnancy and birth I couldn’t go through with it." Sharing Truth Two Abortions, U.K. “I have had two abortions and the most heartbreaking thing of all is that they were planned pregnancies but due to my severe fear of pregnancy and birth I couldn’t go through with it. There needs to be more awareness and support around the condition of Tokophobia and often it really does come down to continuing with a pregnancy and letting your mental health drastically suffer, or to terminate and look after yourself.” Read more.
Mar 29 Mar 29 "I did IVF to become a single mother by choice. Reality struck me during pregnancy." Sharing Truth Two Abortions, Australia “He left a few weeks later and a few weeks after that I found out I was pregnant. At the start I was determined to keep it but I felt in no way ready to be a single mum and made the hard choice at 36 to have an abortion. Fast foward a year, I did IVF to become a single mother by choice. I didn’t want him to be the reason I didn’t have kids and I was still missing the baby I gave up. Read more.
Mar 1 Mar 1 "Fast forward another 2 weeks and I am now pregnant again, immediately after an abortion." Sharing Truth Two Abortions, North of Ireland “I was absolutely devastated! Initially I felt so ashamed, so stupid and selfish that I could allow this to happen twice in concession. But then I had a strong word with myself . . . I was a woman seeking intimacy with a man also seeking intimacy, there's no shame in that. Unfortunately our chosen method of contraception failed to protect us from falling pregnant.” Read more.
Feb 23 Feb 23 "I absolutely can not and will not bring a child into total chaos." Sharing Truth Three Abortions, Location Not Given “I'm pregnant again about to schedule my third. I do have a daughter but I am going through a divorce from a mentally unstable man. I'm pregnant by the love of my life and I currently do not have a place to stay.” Read more.
Feb 16 Feb 16 "It was this situation that showed me how important it was to me to be in a safe and loving relationship before bringing a baby into the world." Sharing Truth Four Abortions, Scotland “I felt immense pressure to continue the pregnancy even though it terrified me in every sense. The feeling of utter dread and fear stopped me from leaving the house for 2 weeks. I knew then that the decision had to be made. And it had to be made by me for me, no one else.” 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.
