if my mom hadn't terminated her first pregnancy I certainly wouldn't have the life I have now.
I’ve been wanting to tell this story for a long time now, I’ve told it in bits and pieces to friends, classmates, and in medical settings. But now I want to try to tell it in its entirety and share it with more of the world.
I was sitting on the kitchen floor when I was 11, sunshine pouring through the window as I’m curled up on my mom’s lap while she’s talking to me. I forget how her story starts, but all I know is eventually I come to the realization she had an abortion before she decided to have me.
She didn’t just have an abortion. She had an abortion in Alabama during the 1980’s, with people yelling at her when she pulled up in a car, screaming about how they would take her baby if she chose to have it. She cried as she held me, but the impression I got was her sadness was from peoples reactions to her abortion, not the medical procedure itself.
Year’s after her abortion, thousands of miles away in Seattle WA she got pregnant with me. She opted to give birth to me and continues to love and take care of me in so many ways to this day.
I wanted to share my experience with my mom’s abortion. Honestly I am so grateful she had one, if my mom hadn’t terminated her first pregnancy I certainly wouldn’t have the life I have now. The consciousness I consider my own would have been sent somewhere else. I don’t think she’s opted to share her own story publicly, but I want to scream how proud and grateful I am from the rooftops.
She is brave and caring and thoughtful. Her medical history is one part of that journey.
