Not What I Wanted

July 3, 2024

Note: The Exhale Pro-Voice After-Abortion Stories collection features people’s stories of their experiences and emotions, exactly as they have written them in. We do not edit these stories at all, and the content that follows this message is exactly as we received it. We know that people’s experiences are complex, and these stories reflect the many emotions they may be feeling after their abortions. From relief to grief, and everything in between, and all at the same time, we’re here for you.

I made the choice of having unprotected sex, knowing its risks. Me as my teenage self right now, ignored those risks and did not think I would get pregnant (for some odd reason I thought that). My period did not come for the month and I started to worry.

I went to Target to buy my pregnancy test and took them the day after. I took the pregnancy test just to keep my mind at ease that I’m not pregnant and my period is late because of stress. I went to go check on the test and it said pregnant…

I was so scared because I knew my parents would kill me for being a teen parent. I cried and cried and cried for hours being scared of what to do on telling my parents. After I saw the results I told my boyfriend about it and he was just as scared. In my head, I thought that everything would be okay after I deal with the anger of my parents and I could be a little happy family with my baby and my boyfriend.

I was already heading out of state to visit my sister for a month, thinking that I could tell my sister and my brother-in-law that I am pregnant and need help breaking the news to my parents. However, they responded differently than I expected. They told me to get an abortion and lectured me about why I should get an abortion. I told them that I didn’t want this but my sister told me that in the past, our mom told her that if I were to get pregnant, she would make me get an abortion.

This crushed my soul and this is when I realized my whole plan was down the drain. My mom would not have listened to me about keeping a baby because she doesn’t want me to go through what she did because she had a baby at 14 years old. I knew I had no chance of winning and I was stuck.

I didn’t want to take the chance of seeing if my mom would so happen let me keep this baby for two reasons, 1) if she didn’t let me have the baby, I didn’t want to lose my boyfriend by him being taken away from me once the baby was gone, 2) I didn’t want the baby to be older and have to get a violent abortion. It tears me apart to think about the violent ways of aborting a baby and I did not want that to happen to mine.

Abortion was not my first choice and never crossed my mind, however it was the choice I would have to be making for the sake of my baby and my mental health. I was 7 weeks pregnant when I got the abortion and I did it by pill. It was a rough experience and I was throwing up and in a lot of pain. But not only did I go through the physical pain, I went through the mental pain of it all. I was depressed about my baby being gone… it hurt my heart.

I saw the tissue ball that came out of me and cried about having to flush the toilet. That was my baby and I could never have that baby back, the baby I wanted to have and raise. It has been about 3 days after my abortion and I am still so very heartbroken. I love my baby so much and will always cherish the baby. I hope the baby knows how much mommy loves them.

Submitted by: Baby’s Mommy

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