But I hadnt yet talked to women about what happens nextwhat comesafterthe abortion.
People Google the term sex after abortion roughly 2,000 times a month.
Is sex going to hurt?
Cultura RM Exclusive/Philipp Nemenz/Getty Images & Pinghung Chen/EyeEm/Getty Images/Collage by Cristina Cianci
*Some names have been changed, and quotes have been edited and condensed for clarity.
I had an abortion when I was 26, because I wanted one.
It was an easy decision to makeand one Im extremely proud of.
Pinghung Chen / EyeEm
Three or four months passed between my abortion and when I hadsexagain.
And then it wasnt special or important or particularly good, and that was perfectly OK.
It wasnt clear to me until I experienced itwhat kind of prejudices I was holding onto unknowingly.
Pinghung Chen / EyeEm
I realized my abortion belongs to me, and I get to create the narrative around it.
Ive actually had three abortions.
I had my first abortion when I was 17 years old.
Pinghung Chen / EyeEm
I forgot birth control one week, got pregnant, and decided to have an abortion.
I didnt really think about it.
I was just like, This is what I need to do.
The second time I got pregnant was when I was 19.
So I think Id just bite the bullet and do it anyway, despite my discomfort.
Still, I felt a lot more nervous about getting pregnant again.
Then, I had my third abortion when I was 23.
I bled for a lot longer, and I hurt for a lot longer.
But I was also older and self-assured enough to set boundaries with my partner.
I just remember being so paranoid about getting pregnant and having to go through all of that again.
So I waited a while before even attempting sex again, and I focused on my education, instead.
It sucked, but I always knew that I planned on having an abortion if that happened.
Im just not a person whos ever going to have children.
The guy I was seeing wasnt supportive; he made it really awful, actually.
Im definitely a very sexual person.
I ended up having sex about two weeks later, which was probably sooner than I shouldve.
F*ck it.
Lets just get this out of the way.Funnily enough, we ended up breaking my bed.
And even though we used protection, I got the morning after pill because I was so worried.
The first was when I was 25.
When we finally saw each again, I remember feeling scared.
My second abortion happened more recently, right after my partner and I got engaged.
Like the first abortion, it was a pretty easy decision.
The first time I got pregnant, I wasnt on birth control.
But this time around, I was, which was really surprisingand nerve-wracking and scary.
We didnt have sex again for three months following the second abortion.
It took us a while to get comfortable again, but we eventually got back to our regular routine.
I had my first abortion when I was 25.
The pregnancy was unexpected, but my then-boyfriend (now-husband) and I decided to keep the baby.
At our 8-week ultrasound, though, something seemed to be wrong.
Faced with a difficult choice, we decided not to go through with the pregnancy.
My second abortion happened much more recentlya little more than a month ago.
Throwing a baby into the mix simply wasnt in the cards for us.
Still, I surprised myself by how quickly I wanted to have sex again.
I was back in the saddle with my husband a few days after my procedure.
The first time, I remember being really nervous to have sex again.
Was something going to go wrong?
Was everything going to feel normal, or not normal?All these questions were running through my head.
But everything ended up being totally fine.
I had my second abortion a couple years later.
Id just had my first childhe was four months old at the time.
And my partner and I agreed that having another kid so soon wasnt right for us.
I was 33 when I had an abortion.
I was living in Chicago, under-employed, and doing everything I could to make ends meet.
I was also in a long-distance relationship.
After a week-long visit that May, I got pregnant.
Wouldn’t happen to meboy, was I wrong.
We were supposed to wait at least two weeks to have sex again.
