I had a medical abortion in July last year after I fell pregnant by my married lover.

By anonymous on 14/02/2007
I had a medical abortion in July last year after I fell pregnant by my married lover. The reason we both chose to have the baby aborted was because his wife was already 7 months pregnant at the time. The clinic that I was treated in I found to be unsympathetic and cold; the staff were rude and insensitive. I am a very hard person to annoy or offend but I found the way they treated me just that, annoying and offensive.

I took the first tablet and then went back to work. I then went back 48 hours later with my lover who waited in the car for me. I waited over an hour and then had some tablets inserted inside me and was basically given a bag containing information, painkillers and a suppository. I went back to my apartment and I pottered around for a while. I had a glass of cranberry juice and a piece of toast.

Then exactly 2 hours later the pain started.

I vomited over 50 times and I became weak, dehydrated and frightened. I could hardly walk or talk as I had no energy and my throat was raw from vomiting. The pain was so bad that at one point I honestly thought I was dying. I could not breathe - the pain was that intense. I was hyperventilating and screaming with agony. I actually broke two finger nails because of how hard I was having to hold on to the cushions on the sofa because of the pain. I was unable to take the pain killers as they had already administered some before I left the clinic. And then all of a sudden, the blood came.

And I tell no lie; the second it came, the pain all disappeared. I was bleeding very very heavily. I was using super-duper style sanitary pads and going through one every hour. I showered as I was sweating and felt dirty, especially after all the sickness, and it was like someone had cut off one of my limbs, I have never seen so much blood. I thought I might bleed to death.

But, only 6 hours after it happened, I felt well enough for my lover to take me to the cinema. It was the weirdest day of my life. I continued to bleed for around 10 days after the medical termination and at one point I am embarrassed to say I put on a latex glove and scooped the clots from the toilet to inspect them for my baby. I was 8 weeks when I terminated.

When I look back and think of the pain, it makes me want to cry. I would consider myself a very strong woman (I am 25 now) and I can handle most pain. But whoever tells you the pain is similar to that of period pains is possibly just trying to make light of it. They say the further along you are, the worse the pain is. I hope this helps but I would never ever recommend the procedure to any girl/woman. My best friend had the vacuum style abortion 2 days later and felt nothing. It is better not to see or hear about the miscarriage you are having after you take these pills. Trust me!

Editor’s note: Thank you for telling us your story. About a quarter of abortions are medical abortions and they are becoming more prevalent, so it’s helpful to hear what your experience was like. It sounds very much that the actual process of the termination you underwent is still uppermost in your mind, especially in terms of the physical pain.
There’s one thing that I noticed about your story – what you said about looking for your baby and yet feeling that it’s better not to see or hear what happens. I am wondering what that was about for you? If you ever feel you would like to talk through your experience further, please get in touch again. Thank you so much for writing in as it will help others who might be considering a medical termination.

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