Samantha

We had been married for two years. We weren’t intending to have kids anytime soon and weren’t planning for any until we were on our feet. We lived with my parents. We had accumulated more than twenty thousand dollars in debt between car payments, credit cards, and education costs. We were not ready financially.

“I was a married woman. I was not in an abusive relationship. But our debt looked insurmountable.”

And then I missed my period. I was devastated at the possibility that I could be pregnant. We couldn’t have a baby, we were way too far into debt to give a child the home they deserved. When I took the test we both cried, because we would have been so happy to have a baby if not for the fact that we didn’t have the money and wouldn’t have a roof over our heads.

So we made the decision to have an abortion. When I found out that I was nine weeks pregnant, it was the most painful decision I’ve ever had to make to go through with it. I felt guilt and shame. I was a married woman. I was not in an abusive relationship. It was not an unwanted baby. But our debt looked insurmountable.

We’ve now landed back on our feet and are going to start trying to have a baby. We recognize that had we not made the decision we did at the time, we would not be in the position we are now. We are able to offer a child a home and a parent that can stay home with them.

Abortion is a hard choice no matter where you are in life or why you make the decision. I was given paperwork at the clinic that could connect me to support groups for couples like my husband and me.