“I had an abortion when I was 16 years old. When I found out I was pregnant my best friend and I went to grocery store, bought a pregnancy test, and took it to the Panera Bread public restroom because I didn’t want my Mom to find out. I was so embarrassed because all my life my mom would tell me not to get pregnant young and I would always say that I wouldn’t. But the truth is, I never thought it would happen to me and as a result it did. My boyfriend at the time and I were m

“I was a 28 year old PhD student six weeks from defending my dissertation. I'd had an IUD for 3 years and thought my birth control method would protect me from pregnancy. Apparently, my IUD had shifted slightly, and I got pregnant. I went to the doctor when I was (apparently) 6 weeks pregnant... an at-home test wasn't even enough to detect my pregnancy at that point. The 6-week abortion bans happening in the country right now scare me so much, because many women won't trip a

Content warning: abusive relationship “I’m 27 and I’ve had two abortions. Both before 8 weeks. I was in a long term, ABUSIVE relationship that I could not get out of. I chose to have abortions because I would never bring a child into this world knowing they could face the same abuse I was. Not only was I repeatedly beaten every day, but I wasn’t ready for a child. I was on birth control. I did everything I could not to get pregnant, but it happened. I am very thankful that I

“I chose to have an abortion because I’m simply not ready for another child. I have a 4-year-old whom I had at a young age. I’m slowly getting our lives in order now. I was in a relationship with someone for a year, I discovered he was cheating and shortly after, discovered I was pregnant. I hadn’t missed a period yet so thankfully I was very early in my pregnancy. I booked my consultation at the hospital. They give you an ultrasound and take blood. Because I was so early on

“So, I didn’t even have a missed period yet, but I’ve been pregnant before, so I know what it felt like. My boobs were way too sore & my nipples were tender to the touch. I took 2 tests & both were positive. I immediately broke down, because I have had 3 abortions before & I felt so stupid to let myself be put in this situation again. When I had my last 3 abortions, they were all surgical. I was put to sleep with anesthesia & was woken up after and felt crazy cramps. I rememb

“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

“Today I had my third abortion. I’m thirty years young, in a loving and supportive relationship, and I was raised upon the principles that abortion is wrong. I found out two days ago officially but unofficially, I just knew I was. I am not in the place I want to be when I become a mother: emotionally and living wise. At this age you have friends left and right having children and you get to see what they experience and the sacrifices they’ve made for their little ones and I a

“I'm so glad that websites like this exist so I can share what my experience was freely and without judgement. I knew I was pregnant before I took the test. For weeks I had been feeling nauseous and I was getting really sad and really happy in equal measures. My hormones were all over the place. So, when I took the test it was no real surprise. I don't have a partner. I found out later that I had missed one of my contraceptive pills 7 weeks and 3 days ago when I had sex with

“I never really know where to start when discussing my abortion, but I want to try in case it can help so here we go? I split with my partner of 5 years in October of 2018 and it was far from amicable, I’m used to cutting someone out completely, but he would always call on private or show up unannounced, so it was hard for me. I never have regular periods so for me to miss a few was not irregular, however, in December I started to realise I could not keep down food. I was sic

“Where do I even start...I’m not going to make this detail-to-detail because it’s a lot and I’m still very emotional about it but talking about it really helps. I found out I was pregnant on January 1st, 2019 (New Year’s Day to be exact.) I knew I was pregnant. Obviously, I missed my period, had a positive pregnancy test, extreme fatigue, really bad mood swings, and I had strong food cravings—mainly for Chinese takeout. I was very emotional, I was already about 5 weeks pregna

“I’m 19 and my due date would have been tomorrow. In June of 2018 I found out I was pregnant. I remember the exact moment the test came back positive as I sat in a service station toilet, by myself, whilst my boyfriend was getting us both a coffee. I hadn’t felt right for week. My period was late and whenever I went to drink alcohol something inside of me told me not to. So, as we drove home from our holiday, I went into Tesco to buy a test, thinking absolutely nothing of it.

“The second I found out I was pregnant I knew in my heart I wasn’t keeping it. The following week the internet became my best friend—every day after work I would watch videos and read women’s stories about their experiences and how they felt afterwards. I finally made an appointment with Planned Parenthood. I didn’t tell anyone but one of my sisters and she was very supportive and agreed to come with me to my appointment. The day of my appointment I was so scared. My anxiety

“My period was 5 days late when I took a pregnancy test which confirmed I was 1-2 weeks pregnant. I’m 24 and had very recently reconnected with a guy I had been sleeping with briefly the year before. At first it didn’t really sink in and I think my initial response was laughing. After a couple of days I really started to freak out and it didn’t help that I was unable to get through to the dad. When he eventually got in contact (he’d lost his phone), I told him and he was shoc

“My aim here is not to put anyone off but to share my experience to maybe put people at ease, as I read a lot of stories and it’s fair to say it made me terrified! I’ve been with my boyfriend for over a year. I’ve been on the contraceptive pill for many years, but I’ve never been a fan of taking tablets, even ones that small. It’s more psychological than anything, I overthink before I take tablets and always end up feeling sick. So it’s fair to say I wasn’t very good at takin

“I was never ready for kids. I've never really experienced the ‘motherly’ urge or find myself wanting kids. All of my sisters have kids but I just could not see myself going down that road. At the age of 26, I was advancing in my career and I enjoyed my independence. I was always on birth control since I was 22. But, that one time that I had no medical insurance to get my birth control and the one time my boyfriend did not wear a condom, is the time I got pregnant. He and I t

“I found out I was pregnant before my 22nd birthday. But actually, I had a strange feeling after a few days when I missed my period. Usually if I was a day or 2 late, I didn't think anything of it. But this time 3 days after I missed my period, I knew something wasn't right. I read to wait until 9 days late to take a test, so I did. But those 9 days felt so long, and I was so anxious because I was nervous to tell my husband. We have been married for 2 years, but we never actu

“It was the summer of 2016. I was 26 and seeing a man who was 33 for about 9 months, we never had a discussion on how serious our relationship was, and even though I felt I was in love with him, I was always too scared to ask what we were and where our relationship was going. After 9 months, I thought we were careful, considering I took the measures of using the pill, but I had gone away with my friend for the July 4th weekend and knew I didn’t feel right. My breasts were swo

“It wasn't the time after a grueling degree. I finally got to go on my second practicum that I had been working toward for years and gain valuable experience right out of school. Halfway through my second practicum, I peed on a stick and I realized that I was pregnant. Jared and I were faced with a very difficult decision. So, let's look at this financially. I just finished school, I have student debt, and my master card is maxed. I do have a job lined up but being pregnant p

“I feel empty inside and a sense of loss. Two days ago I experienced an abortion. It was not natural that I decided to go through that. When I found myself pregnant, I was scared, sad, and I did not know what to do. My boyfriend got a bit angry at first, and as a man, very rational. My first instinct, like all mothers, was to keep that little one. The connection was there. It is scientific, there is a hormone that connects the mother and the baby straight away. I thought, why

“I was 24 years old when I became pregnant. My boyfriend and I had only been dating for 5 months. We were in a happy relationship and a good place so far. I was on oral contraceptives when I became pregnant but had accidentally started an expired pack I had forgotten to throw away. My breasts grew about 2 cup sizes pretty rapidly and I was feeling nauseous in the mornings. I discontinued my pack to see if some kind of a period or withdrawal bleeding would come. I waited a wee