Women choose to have an abortion for many different reasons, but what happens when you want to terminate a pregnancy but can’t?
On a recent Reddit thread, women have opened up about how their lives turned out after they decided to keep or adopt out a child they didn’t initially want.
One woman said that in the end she just couldn’t go through with the abortion, so she decided to adopt her baby out instead. She found a wonderful couple who supported her throughout her pregnancy and agreed to an open adoption.
"Since giving my child up for adoption, I've gotten married and had a child with my now, late husband. I have an amazing job, about to go back to school for my MBA, and buy my first house," she wrote.
"It is an open adoption and I do weekly Skype calls with my daughter and her parents. She was at my wedding and is still a major part of my life. I have no regrets and going through with the adoption has been the hardest thing I've ever done, but I wouldn't change anything."
Another woman admitted that she initially wanted to abort her daughter, who is now 5-years-old.
"We didn't want children, we never planned for children. We had many reasons, but to put it shortly neither of us thought we were fit enough to be parents," she wrote.
The woman said that financial problems, issues in their cross-cultural marriage, and health problems, all contributed to their desire not to have children, and now that they have a child, things are even worse.
"When are you having a baby?" on Mamamia Out Loud. Post continues...
"The best part of my day is when I go to bed and have a few hours of sweet nothingness where no one demands or wants anything of me. I battle suicidal thoughts every day. I am very barely keeping our heads above the water, actually even that is quite optimistic."
Another user admitted that when she and her boyfriend couldn't decide on an abortion, she just kind of "stayed pregnant" and they ended up having the baby. She said that although she loves her daughter, who is now 8 months old, her life has changed for the worse.
"For the first time, I'm working a 9-5 job and stuck in a cubicle all day. I do the same thing day after day, and it's wearing on me. I used to have a job I looked forward to going to every day, but I couldn't afford to work there anymore," she wrote.
"I still love my boyfriend very much, but our relationship isn't as fun as it used to be. We used to have so much fun together, even if we were just sitting on the couch watching a movie. Now we're both so tired all the time," she added.
One woman became pregnant at just 12 years old. She ran away from home and was lucky enough to find a kind older woman who took her in and helped her raise her child.
"I went to high school and at nights we would study for my classes together. I'd read aloud to her and tried to spend as much time as I could with her. In college, I built my schedule around being able to be around when my daughter wasn't in school."
However, she says she didn't know she had the option of an abortion back then and probably would have had one if she did.
"I love my daughter with every part of me, but there are days I want to be free, have fun or go out and do stupid things. She's a great kid, but I wish I didn't have to raise her and instead live my life for me."