Hello and welcome to my podcast, The Wellness Project with Des. In today’s episode, I speak with Kate Carson about her experience ending a wanted pregnancy.
I’m Desiree, a Mental Health Therapist that is passionate about helping people improve their mental health and live a healthy and fulfilled life. One way I do this is by interviewing experts in the field of mental health and wellness as well as those that have struggled with their mental health but have gained control over it and now live fulfilling lives. In this episode, we will hear from Kate about how she had a late-term abortion when she was 35 weeks pregnant with a very wanted and loved baby, Laurel.
With the overturning of Roe Vs Wade, I felt compelled to interview women that have had abortions to open the conversation about these very individual and personal stories. As well as to educate about abortion, miscarriages, and reproductive healthcare as it is not something we widely or openly speak about and certainly not something we are taught about.
“About 10 to 20 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage.”
(Mayo Clinic)
Nearly 1 in 4 women will have an abortion by the end of her childbearing years.
(Guttmacher Institute)
These are huge numbers yet, we almost never speak about these things. Abortion and miscarriages are often kept hush hush which is a major contributing factor to the stigma and lack of education surrounding these very serious and important topics. Women are taught to not share their miscarriages and to wait until they are in the second trimester to share the news about the pregnancy because miscarriages are so common in the first trimester.
Ten years ago Kate was the mother of a 2-year-old girl. She and her husband were actively trying to have another baby but sadly, Kate had 3 miscarriages in a row. Her 4th pregnancy finally progressed but it was a difficult pregnancy from the start and Kate was on edge from having 3 miscarriages. Kate was anxious and felt something was wrong. Due to Kate’s heightened anxiety about her pregnancy, her midwife sent her for an ultrasound at 35 weeks pregnant to give her some peace of mind before the birth.
Unfortunately, the ultrasound had confirmed Kate’s worst fear. Kate was told that her baby’s brain had not developed properly.
Because of the severity of the medical issues the baby would have after birth and the pregnancy becoming such a high-risk pregnancy putting Kate’s life in danger, Kate decided to have an abortion. Her doctor called her on a Friday evening and she was informed that she would need to be on a plane Monday morning to fly across the country and the procedure would be $25,000.
Listen to Kate’s emotional and powerful story to learn more about the individual and personal nature of abortion.
I am so sorry — and kind of frustrated that that’s all I can say. Hollow words.
I was in a similar situation, albeit at 23 weeks and already living in colorado. I, too, chose to end the life of our baby. I, too, chose to stay silent about the abortion. Annie is loved and remembered, but pretty much only by me and my family.
This summer, after the SCOTUS decision, I got really mad and decided to tell my story. I spoke about it to my church during a service, and got mostly incredibly kind comments. It was wonderful to be enveloped in the love of the congregation!
The not-so-supportive comments actually came from relatives I invited to participate in the zoom service. One of them said she didn’t know what to think about the Supreme Court decision “because there is such evil out there”. I scraped my jaw off the floor and tried to present my argument for womens decisions, but I don’t think it really landed. Which is disappointing, but I’m trying to remind myself that she loves kids and the world needs people like her.
Thank you for sharing your story. Again, I’m sorry that laurel isn’t here. You’re an awesome mom, Kate!