One of the main reasons why I wanted to start this blog is because when my husband and I decided to terminate our wanted pregnancy at 19 weeks, I turned to the internet for support, especially since no one in my circle of friends or family had ever experienced such a procedure or loss. I was surprised by the lack of women’s voices online about their experiences with later term abortions in wanted pregnancies. Instead, I came across websites that tried to convince me that I was making a poor decision, that I’d have a lifetime of regret and sorrow (with pages of personal testimonies to prove it), and that I should be suspicious about the doctors’ reasonings that convinced me to make the decision to terminate in the first place. In the worst cases, internet searches on late termination led me to extremist “baby-killer” type websites replete with graphic images of fetuses and damning quotes from the bible. These websites were both frightening and infuriating to me and negatively impacted my already fragile state of mind. It is this memory that led me to create this blog in the hopes that more accurate and helpful information for women seeking later abortions will be available to them online.
I don’t regret the decision I made to terminate my wanted pregnancy and support others and their families who make this difficult decision. I fully believe the doctors’ diagnosis of Trisomy 13 in our baby was as serious and fatal as they said it was. The “half a heart” and other defects the baby had were soon going to make her incompatible with life. Whether that was in a week in utero, or days after her birth, we did not want any suffering on her part to continue–she was in no peaceful, natural state of being, as many online would like me to believe. I also understood that if I allowed my pregnancy to continue, the chance that the baby would die in utero increased, causing a greater risk to my health as well. Having had the “easier” decision to terminate a pregnancy with the “unviable” Trisomy 13 prognosis, I often wonder about the heartache involved for parents who decide to terminate a pregnancy with Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome) or a less fatal or debilitating fetal anomaly and the judgement that comes from that act. This blog is also dedicated to you.
Although it was a very difficult decision and sad chapter in our lives, my husband and I are so grateful for the guidance and care we received from the doctors and the technology and science that allowed us to find out about our baby’s chromosomal abnormality and defects in the first place. We also feel so lucky that one of the handful of clinics around the country specializing in later abortions, was 20 minutes away from our home in Los Angeles. We couldn’t imagine what it would be like for the Australian woman who sat next to us in the Clinic’s waiting room, who had to travel half way around the world for this specialized care. For us, terminating the pregnancy when we did was the most humane, loving decision we, as parents could make. The abortion also saved us from the additional physical trauma and heartache caused by a later vaginal birth of a stillborn baby, or baby that would struggle to live only for a brief time. This blog is dedicated to all of the women and men who had to make the difficult decision to terminate their wanted pregnancies and for all the people who continue to fight for the reproductive rights of women.
Late-Term Abortion in Wanted Pregnancies 