Taking care of myself

When I found out I was pregnant my partner and I had only been dating two weeks. He was a survivor of leukemia and was told that he would never be able to have children, a fact that he carried with him in deep sorrow as on of his goals was to raise children. I have never wanted to have children let alone give birth. The statistics on pregnancy complications is appalling in the US. However, thinking this might be the one in a billion shot for my partner made this decision extremely difficult. Taking this opportunity away from him was one of the most selfish things I’ve ever done, and I’ve never been more proud of myself for taking care of me. If we had carried that pregnancy to term, I would still be in what quickly proved to be an abusive relationship dynamic, or at least be shackled to him as co-parent. We found out after the abortion that he had regenerated his sperm count, and I am confident that one day he will go on to be an excellent father. And he has done a lot of healing and growing over the last five years, and might someday be a good partner to someone. Thanks to legal and safe abortion, I can have him in my life in the sparse way that I decide to.