Let me tell you about my story first. I was 17 years old when I found out that I was pregnant. I told my boyfriend about it and he did not know what to do. I was so scared of telling my father and my stepmother. I was in school and was taking Fine Arts and very determined to finish my studies. It was as if my whole world collapsed when I found out about it, I wasn't ready at all. The first thing that came into my mind - ABORTION, the only option I have. I thought that only abortion would save me from fear, shame and enable me to pursue my dreams and ambitions in life. But God really works in mysterious ways. I was only one week delayed, I approached my roommate who was graduating from nursing, and told her about my situation and asked what medicine I should take in order for me to abort the baby. She purposely gave me the wrong medication without me knowing it.
A couple of weeks later, nothing happened to me, I wasn't bleeding at all. I got scared all of a sudden and I decided to keep the baby. It wasn't easy for the first few years I had my baby girl. I did not have my father's support nor my mother who had left me when I was a child. I went to live with my boyfriend and his family because my father and my stepmother sent me out of my house when they found out about it. Looking back through the years, of all the things I've been through with my daughter, I'm just so glad and thankful that I kept her. If I had an abortion, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life. My little angel is now a healthy, cheerful and a beautiful 12 year old.
The best thing you can do is to keep the baby. Talk to your parents about it and tell everything to them. For they are the ones who can understand your situation. Although in my situation, it didn't exactly turned out like that, but eventually, they accepted all and became very supportive of me. If you think that it will be hard for you to approach your parents, there are a lot of Community Services out there, who accommodate women or girls who had unplanned pregnancies for free. Vita Manor is an example. They give free residential accommodations for girls who are 16 years old and above, until eight weeks after giving birth. They also give workshops, counseling, recreational activities during the time of pregnancy.
Abortion is never an option, for you will just put yourself in more trouble. How many girls or women out there, who after committed abortion, gained peace of mind? Most of them have suffered the "Post-traumatic abortion syndrome or Post abortion stress syndrome", wherein they experience serious depression and massive feelings of guilt after which haunt them forever. Abortion will not only affect you emotionally but it can also leave physical complications as well. There are different side effects of abortion: Some women have excessive bleeding and need to be rushed to the hospital; Abortion can be fatal to some. Studies have shown that some women, died after taking the abortion pill.
In Sept.17, 2003, a young woman died after taking an abortion pill in Livermore, CA. She allegedly experienced bleeding and severe cramps. She went to a hospital a few days later and died on September 17. Fragments of the embryo remained inside her uterus became infected and caused her to go into septic shock. Abortion can cause infertility and miscarriage too. While performing an abortion, if the physician happened to scrape too hard, the lower lining of the uterus can be removed and cause infertility. Late abortion, done after the first trimester, requires a material called laminaria to dilate the cervix. This could weaken the cervix and conceivably cause infertility. Surgical abortion could scar a small section of the wall of the uterus and thus increase the chance of a subsequent miscarriage.
Do you think you will ever overcome all the emotional effects and surpass the physical complications of an abortion? What if the time comes when you are ready to have a child but you find out that you are infertile because of the effect of abortion? Are you going to be okay with it? Are you willing to take the risk of having an abortion now, knowing that you might have a chance of not bearing a child in the future? What's in your womb now is a gift of life, a gift from God and not all women have this gift. As a single mom, my daughter is my joy, my pride and my everything. She is the greatest gift that I received from God.
