This story was submitted by Tina Gloss-Finnell.
At 16 yrs old and being the baby of four with an older sister, my Mom was very practical when it came time for me to tell her that my boyfriend and I were thinking of having sex. She set up an appointment at Planned Parenthood for us to go and discuss birth control options. I chose the pill and remained on it until I was in my first year of college.
My boyfriend and I had broken up and I was not seeing anyone seriously so decided to go off the pill. I was under the belief that it took weeks for the hormones to get out of your system and you weren’t at risk for pregnancy, so I wasn’t worried when I made the mistake of having unprotected sex after a party a few days after stopping. Well, I got pregnant.
I am the only one in my 6 member family to have the opportunity to go to college and was in my Freshman year. I was young, on a great path and didn’t want a stupid, one-night stand mistake to ruin my future. I went to the Planned Parenthood in the city where I was attending school to see about abortion services. They were understanding, thorough and gave me all of the information I needed to make MY decision. I finished college and am turning 50 this year. I have NEVER regretted having an abortion and am happy that I was able to make that choice.