I was barely 17 in 1991. My very first real boyfriend had just turned 21. Naive and sheltered from being raised by grandparents, I’m surprised I knew I was pregnant so soon. I wanted to keep it. I told my boyfriend I wanted to stay pregnant but not tell my grandparents until it was too late to terminate. He and his mother helped me to understand that my way of thinking about our situation proved I was not ready to parent, they were right.
I spoke to the counselor at my school and she was amazing and informative. She made sure I understood what I was doing then helped me find a clinic.
The day of the procedure is kind of blurry. I remember the noise of the suction machine, and it definitely hurt. But the nurses were nice and my partner was super caring. I remember protesters being outside the clinic afterwards but being so naive and still groggy from the anesthesia I had no idea what they were yelling about. I threw up from the pain medicine later that day but other than that and a little soreness, it just felt like a period.
A week later my boyfriend would break down and regret our decision, but I never have. We married 8 months later and had a daughter and a son together. I told both of them about my experience so that they would never feel they had to hide it from me if they ever found themselves in my position. At 17 my daughter came to me afraid she was pregnant, she was not, but she knew I would help her no matter her decision. And at 17 my son and his girlfriend considered abortion. He came to me and we talked about the choice I made, and it helped them to know they had options. They made the choice to parent and are married now with an 8 year old and a 4 year old.
