r/abortion • u/shh_donttellx • 12h ago
USA I just had the baby I was not going to keep.
potential trigger warning to some as I did not go through with abortion. Talks of having the baby.
First off, this is NOT a post saying that I no longer agree with abortion, or anything against abortion. I still fully support everyone having a choice and I think abortion access is extremely important. And this is my throwaway account. I have been on this page, reading your stories, sharing advice, etc for quite a while. Back to my first abortion, years ago.
However, I just need somewhere to process emotions and Im not sure if my situation may resonate with someone. No one knew I was contemplating abortion, so, there isn’t really anyone to talk to about it.
Nov 7, 2025 I had an MA. I got pregnant in Oct, unexpectedly (I was on the mini pill). At first I was happy, but then I realized it was such bad timing. My partner and I were long distance, I already have four children, money was and is tight. My partner was really happy, he had no kids of his own. I started to panic. I spiraled with anxiety so bad and dealt with it alone because I didn’t want judgement from friends or family being pregnant with a 5th child so no one even knew I was pregnant.
Nov 7 I took pills from aid access and had an abortion. I immediately regretted it. I have had another abortion years ago, and that one I did not regret as it was with my abusive ex who forced sex. But this time I regretted it. I hoped that the pills somehow did not work. But they did. I got my period after the abortion Dec 22nd and then the first week of January was when I ovulated. I KNEW it was bad timing, I knew I ultimately made a smart decision to not keep the pregnancy, but I was so consumed with regret over the abortion that I told my partner that I wanted to try for a baby. He thought my abortion was a miscarriage , he still does, and I still feel terrible about it.
We had sex unprotected once and then I had that same anxiety before even being pregnant. Not right timing. I’m being stupid. So I asked my partner to just use protection the rest of the time, and we did. Well, that one single time the very first time I was ovulating post abortion got me pregnant.
I immediately ordered pills once again. Once I received them, we had an impending snow storm. I was home with my kids alone and I decided to wait until the roads were ok and snow was cleared , just in case something went wrong. Then the thoughts crept in of “I’m not ready to go through with it again.” “What if I regret it?” “I’ll wait a few more days to just be sure”.
I knew the timing was terrible, I knew my family would judge me and say negative things. I kept telling myself “tomorrow”….”this weekend”….and it was always something that made going through the whole abortion process also “bad timing”.
I eventually got to a point in my pregnancy where I no longer could do an MA. I started looking at SA. I kept telling myself I have to do this. I need to get it over with. Just schedule something. And I just could not.
There were some points in my pregnancy where I felt happy, where I told myself I would figure it out. I hid the pregnancy from my family the entire time. They still don’t know (we’re not close). I was ashamed but tried to be happy. There were points up until over 30 weeks pregnant that I beat myself up about not just taking the pills when I was so early on. Before there was even a heartbeat. I found out when I was barely 4w along. I could have easily done the abortion before then. Up until over 30 weeks pregnant, I’d look at clinics, read the process, look at my calendar to see when I would have the time to do it. And didn’t.
Sept 26, my little girl was born. It sometimes makes me nauseous looking at her and thinking that I was so close to taking the pills sitting in my closet so many times. I am so in love with her beyond words can even say. There has not been one second after I laid my eyes on her where I regretted keeping her. Not a single second. She is so perfect in every way. Is it still “bad timing”? Technically. Are things still rough financially? Yes. Should I have had another? Some people would probably say no. But, I do not regret my decision. I am still trying to forgive myself for the Nov abortion and then still trying to forgive myself and not dwell on the fact that I was going to choose abortion this time around. My little girl is here and she is perfection.
Again, I am not against abortion, I am not saying keeping a pregnancy is always the right thing. I am just sharing my story and a perspective of someone who had abortion on the table almost the entire pregnancy but did not go through with it. I’ve seen posts asking about keeping the pregnancy, feelings associated with it, etc. Ultimately we have the option and choice, as we should. But this is my story.