Content warning: childhood sexual abuse, abusive relationship, rape “When I was 4-6 (not sure when) I was sexually abused. I repressed the memories until I was 14. When the memories came back my home life was also really bad and I (I always such a good kid) was lost. I dated a bit and then had my heart broken and I was left by all my friends. When I thought no one liked me, a guy found interest in me. I instantly devoted myself to him, the dumb kid I was. He got me into drugs

“It was 2009. I was 28. My ex-husband had moved out a few months prior. I had two kids already and I was barely able to support them. I didn't date due to residual issues with my ex and not feeling worthy, but also because I didn't want to end up in another situation where I was dependent on a man. One night I took my kids to my ex's apartment and he asked if I wanted to have a drink. One thing led to another... On the way home I thought I should get a Plan B the next day, bu

“Reading these stories helped me, so I wanted to share my experience too in the hopes that it will help other women. I'm 39, happily married with 2 beautiful children, ages 2 and 4. In my last pregnancy, I had a TIA (mini-stroke) when I was 8 months pregnant. I ended up ok, as did my son, but it was very scary, and as a result my doctor will not prescribe me birth control that includes estrogen since it could increase my chances of another stroke. My husband and I have used c

“I was 23 when I decided to have an abortion. I had a 6 year old at the time, who I had given birth to at the age of 16. I had spent almost 7 years working and struggling to build a life for the two of us. At 23, I finally had done that. I had a good job, a nice house, money and time to do the things we needed/wanted, and I had done it all by myself. I was single but had been dating someone on and off. One day I wasn't feeling right, I was exceptionally moody, uncomfortable,

“Today is Mother's Day, and yesterday I completed a medical abortion at home. I know, the irony is strong. But I already have a daughter who is almost two, and my husband and I knew that we weren't ready for another. We weren't trying to get pregnant again, I was on birth control and following the instructions explicitly. I was just unluckily an exception. So, when I got a positive test there was no question that this wasn't going to continue. I had an appointment scheduled l

“I found out I was pregnant last week. I have been having irregular periods and figured it's because I'm nearly 46! I really didn't think I could get pregnant and had skipped my period a few times this past year. I had been taking the combination birth control pill but had missed quite a few doses in the last month due to an irregular and stressful work schedule. When I started getting pregnancy symptoms, I couldn't believe it at first. I already have 3 kids, and I really was

“100 non-medical reasons: That's how I decided I would tell anyone apart from husband about choosing not to go forward with this pregnancy. There were actually only 24 reasons (so far). ‘Choosing not to go forward with this pregnancy’ - that's the flowery way to express it. ‘I chose to have an abortion’ is the politically charged, emotionally saturated and conversation-halting way to say it. I had just turned 42 when I failed to perform the vaginal film insertion procedure pe

“It happened yesterday. I'm 29 years old and already have a five-year-old son. Although my son’s father is in his life every other weekend, I’m a single mom. My son depends on me and his father pays the state MINIMUM in child support. I have a caring boyfriend of a little over a year, however, we broke up a few times through last year due to mostly my indecisiveness regarding commitment. He took the last break up pretty hard and went "back out " (we are both members of alcoho

“So today I had an abortion at 19 weeks. I’m saddened but at the same time I feel relief. I haven’t told anyone but the staff at the clinic about my abortion due to circumstances I will explain. I’m 25 going to be 26 in a few days. I have had 3 pregnancies; first one was a miscarriage, second, I have a beautiful daughter, third is this one, I had an abortion. We shall start in May of 2018, I found out my husband was cheating on me. At the time, our 9-month-old daughter was ge

“I decided to share my abortion story to help relieve the stress and worry for others going through the same thing. My husband and I stupidly had drunken unprotected sex one night. I decided to get the morning after pill even though I thought I was at a stage of my cycle where I was very unlikely to get pregnant. Fast forward two weeks and my period hadn't arrived so I took a test and found out I was pregnant. We have a four-month-old baby so another baby just isn't an option

“My name is Sade. I’m 29 and today at 11 weeks pregnant, I had my abortion. I had a surgical D & C procedure, with IV sedation. I went to Planned Parenthood in Columbus, Ohio. They were great! I was a scared, nervous, crying mess. They talked to me about how it would go, did my IV, and what do you know, I was up. The nurse gave me hug, told me I will be just fine and then the doctor came in and told me the same thing. Before getting my Fentanyl and anxiety drug in my IV, I st

“22 years old, mother of a 16-month-old wonderful little girl. I had recently separated from her father. I had a new boyfriend, wonderful relationship… and a positive pregnancy test. I was 14 weeks 5 days when I went through a two-step abortion procedure. I struggled with the decision from the moment I took the test. I love kids, I want more. But the timing is so not right—I’m just not ready. My mind raced every day and every night until finally, the decision was clear, and a

“I was 18 years old and a mom to my three-year-old little girl when I found out I was pregnant. I knew how different it was going to be from the moment I found out. I didn’t get the same feeling as when I found out I was pregnant the first time. With my oldest daughter, I was scared yet excited and loved my precious baby instantly. With this one I felt shame and disgust. I didn’t have feelings for the dad, and he was living a not so great lifestyle and I just remember sitting

Content warning: mentions of suicide “I had my first child in August 2017, with a man I’d been with for 5 years. I was 21 years old when we welcomed our daughter into this world. This new role as a mother changed me in so many ways. I forgave my fiancé for cheating on me my entire pregnancy and we got married 10 days after I’d given birth. My daughter was 9 months old when he left us for another woman. He moved out and I kept on decent terms with this man for the sake of my d

“I was 6 weeks and 3 days when I went in to Planned Parenthood to get my abortion, the whole time I was thinking about my 2-and-a-half-month old son at home and how I'm only 17. I felt relieved but after about a week went by I felt so empty and still do, but I still wouldn’t change my choice, so I can focus on my son and I.” —Natalie Ibrahim #caringforotherchildren #youngperson

“I am a 29-year-old lady and mother of a 16-month-old daughter. I am writing this six months after my medication abortion. I was breastfeeding my daughter, and she was 9 months old at that time. My last pregnancy with my daughter was so hard for me. I was feeling so much nausea and constantly vomiting during the entire 9 months, so I was not at all ready for another baby so soon. I had participated in one cultural dance program and a few days before my performance I found out

“My surgical abortion at 9 weeks: When I decided my best, and really only option was abortion, I was terrified to have the procedure done. I typical knew nothing about it, because up until I found myself in the situation that I did, I have always been pro-life. So of course I started to research. I could maybe find 3-4 other stories that slightly helped me. So, I told myself after I had it done I would be sharing mine, as to hopefully help someone decide for themselves. So, h

“I wanted to share my story because I felt it was important for women to know different experiences. I am 26 years old and I have a daughter who is 4, due to some extreme hard times I decided with my husband that this would be the right decision. I went in for my appointment at 12 pm, it was originally at 10 am but the office called me the night before to reschedule. When I got there I was greeted by two nurses who were shocked to hear I was there for an appointment. Apparent

“I was 8 weeks and 4 days when I had a surgical abortion under general anesthetic. I am happily married with 2 children, ages 11 and 6, and was complete with my 2 children. I ended up accidentally falling pregnant using condoms—this was never an issue for us before—but this time it didn’t work. I was horrified, and really not happy when I took the test after feeling ‘different’. I just had a feeling that I was pregnant, as I was feeling tired and sick. My husband agreed this

“This is not my abortion story. These are my abortion stories. That’s right. I’ve had two. After two Paragard IUD failures. The first was a year and three months ago. After having the Paragard for about 4 years. I was in shock. I already had a 6.5-year-old at the time. A boyfriend of 9 months. Full-time single mom. It just was not the right time and really, I didn’t have any desire to have another child which is why I chose the IUD. I was scared to death. Afraid of how I woul