He was my first sexual partner. We never used any contraception. I was an idiot and never imagined that I would become pregnant, but then I did.

Melinda's story

As a mom I know now just how hard and brilliant and intense motherhood is, and I am proud to have exercised my right to choose — twice.

I never regretted my decision to have an abortion. But I regret the amount of fear I felt because of other people's reactions and how that fear caused me to make other decisions I wish I hadn't made.

I have had three abortions. Considering that I became sexually active at age 15 and knew then that I never wanted to give birth, and I am now 44, I think three is a pretty small number.

My husband and I decided to have an abortion early in our marriage. We still prefer to remain childless. The pressure to explain our choice to not have children is itself bad enough; the current cultural taboo of admitting an abortion is strangling.