Three women say they now regret having an abortion, many years after going through the experience.
Speaking to a national newspaper, Evelyn Rei, Amanda Brawn and Andrea Gilbertson recall the moments leading up to their abortions and the feelings of sorrow and bereavement they have experienced.
Their interviews with the Daily Mail come against a national backdrop of over 180,000 abortions for women resident in England and Wales in 2012.
Evelyn: Pangs of regret
Evelyn Rei, who had an abortion almost ten years ago, says she has “pangs of regret” and wonders “what life would have been like if I’d gone ahead with the pregnancy”.
Rei commented that she’d always been against abortion but felt it was her only choice because of the nature of the relationship she was in.
Now she says: “While at the time I had no doubts I’d done the right thing, as time has passed I’ve come to regret my abortion.”
She said that her parents would have embraced a grandchild – even in difficult circumstances – and “would have loved helping me bring up a boy or girl”.
Amanda: Bereft
Amanda Brawn, who had two abortions 15 years apart, said: “I often wonder what might have been if I’d not had the abortions.”
Describing her experience of having an abortion at 12 weeks, she said: “I had no idea how bereft and guilty I’d feel”.
Years later she became pregnant again and decided to have another abortion, but this was “horrific” and “a lot more emotional”.
“I was older now and in a settled relationship with a wonderful man who would have made a great father”, she commented.
She says “there’ll always be regrets” about the babies she aborted.
Andrea: Traumatic
Andrea Gilbertson had an abortion when she was 27 and says she will “never forget” her traumatic experience after taking an abortion pill.
She says now: “While my main regret is that I behaved the way I did and had to have an abortion at all, I increasingly wonder what life would have been like if I’d kept the baby, as it now appears that was my only chance of motherhood.”