i was 18 when i gave birth to our first child. my boyfriend and i gave her up for adoption, under duress because we had moved to another state, our families didn't know and we felt pressure from an agency that didn't care about our well being.

my dad told me and my sisters that if any one of us got pregnant, don't bother coming home. i got pregnant at 18 years old, in college while using an diaphragm.

anyone who knows me will not be too surprised to learn that i had an abortion -- i worked at the national abortion rights action league for nine years and almost all of that time was as the executive director. i self-induced an abortion when i was in college.

constrained by a legal system and a bad lawyer, i got pregnant in 2002 accidentally with my current husband, prior to being officially divorced from my last one. in texas, that meant that my ex could fight for custody of my yet to be born 5 week old fetus.

when i was 18, i was a freshman in college. i had been dating someone casually for over a year, who, was not interested in an exclusive, committed relationship with me.

on january 27, i spoke at an event commemorating the 41st anniversary of roe v. wade. i spoke about the tragedy of losing our son, who was due to be born today, march 15, and why sharing stories is critical in our fight for reproductive rights.