I grew up in a home with a violent, alcoholic father who began to molest me when I was three and frequently, violently raped my mother within my hearing.

I had just mustered up the strength to leave a really bad relationship via restraining order and found out I was pregnant. I had been with my ex for six years, but it wasn't until after we got married that he became verbally and physically abusive.

Estaba segura de que no podía quedar embarazada el día siete de mi ciclo menstrual. Uno pensaría que una estudiante de enfermería lo sabría mejor que nadie.

I'm 52, childless and single. I terminated my only 2 pregnancies and only now know for sure that I did the right thing.

I saved the ultrasound picture in a dated envelope, stuck it in a drawer and just as I closed the drawer - I closed out that moment in my life. They asked if I planned to continue with the pregnancy, at the tender, scared and reckless age of 18, in a low whisper, I said, “No.”

I was raised in the Mormon church, and had been told to always be a good girl, and learned how to be codependent at a very early age.