my mother died after a long illness in 1970, my father in 1974, when i was 30. i had been suffering from clinical depression even before that.

i terminated my pregnancy due to medical conditions of the baby. i was very sad at the time as we tried for over six years to get pregnant with our second baby. on my 2nd round of clomid (fertility drug) we were able to get pregnant with a beautiful baby girl. we did not find out anything was wrong with her until almost the 15-16th week.

sex wasn’t talked about in our house. i was raised going to church every sunday, saying grace before dinner, and praying before bed. the only times sex was brought up was when my parents were warning me not to do it. but mostly, it was just ignored.

i had two abortions - one when i was 22 and one when i was 23, within months of each other. both with the same partner. he was a crack addict and already had two kids he didn't properly care for. i was a smart and talented girl with very low self esteem and a desire to "fix" him. he did have a good heart but was massively flawed otherwise.

i was a 23 white, middle class college grad with no insurance. i had just started dating the guy who got me pregnant.

i was 21 with a 9 month old and a boyfriend who was a drug addict. he wasn't there for our daughter and always put his habit before us....he couldn't even hold a job.