Robin is 27 years old. She lives with her boyfriend, his mother and their two children. Her pregnancy was unplanned and she was being pressured by her boyfriend and his family to terminate her pregnancy as soon as possible.
Robin came to us seeking help with her sixth pregnancy. She explained to us that she had a history of three terminations in the past and she could not put herself through another termination as it was traumatizing to her mental health and her body. The father of the baby refused to attend the appointment with her as a protest to her decision to carry their baby. After spending time in counsel and having a sonogram, she learned that she was 12 weeks into the pregnancy which made her even more determined to carry. She asked to return for a second visit in hopes of bringing her boyfriend for the sonogram and a change of mind.
Robin and her boyfriend came to the second appointment, but he decided to stay in the car with their two children. During the time we spent with her, we learned that her boyfriend had made an appointment with the abortion clinic for the following day. Robin was very distraught and did not want to go to her abortion appointment. She felt obligated to go because she was living with her boyfriend’s family and feared that she would be forced to move out of his house if she did not follow through with the abortion. With no alternate support, she felt trapped.
Robin had another sonogram with us and after seeing the heartbeat this time, she was brought to tears of mixed emotions. She decided to call her boyfriend who was still sitting in the car, to come in for the sonogram; but he refused. He claimed that it was a trap and he did not want to see the sonogram. After thanking us profusely for sharing our resources, Robin accepted sonogram pictures and left our office stating that she felt obligated to keep her appointment the following day for her scheduled abortion.
We attempted to contact Robin multiple times to see how she was feeling after her abortion, but we were unsuccessful in reaching her and she would not return our phone calls. A month passed when we received a surprise phone call from Robin stating that she went to her abortion appointment as planned and as she lay on the surgical table, she heard the voice of our advocate saying, “even if you are on the table, it is not too late to change your mind”. It was at that moment that Robin decided to get off of the table and refuse to have the planned abortion. She said that thanks to our services, she had the will to walk away from making a big mistake that she knew she would regret. Robin is now 30 weeks pregnant and doing well.
*Name has been changed to protect patient privacy |