My story is fairly straightforward – I’m childfree and always have been. My ex husband knew that but when he found out I was pregnant; his reaction was ‘if you carry this baby to term our marriage is over’. That wasn’t especially nice to hear because while I wanted an abortion I felt that it was a choice that was not in my hands.

Having to then travel to England, from Glasgow, was simply awful. It’s a long journey, at the time I was on Job Seekers Allowance and out of work, so the additional costs of getting around London, food, paying for a private prescription, stuff like that was a real burden. On the plus side of it (and I know this sounds nuts but everything has a silver lining) I got to see my ex-husband for the profoundly unpleasant individual he is, both then and in the coming months after. I also realised that I needed to go to Uni and get a decent job, so as to avoid being in a financial position like that again.

I’m now going through the process of being referred to be sterilised; being pregnant made me see just how certain I am I don’t want children, ever. I guess I’m a little unconventional because I don’t fit the typical narrative of wanting kids, but having an abortion made me more certain than ever that I don’t want kids and that this is the life I want. That certainty made me feel able to take some extremely hard choices and decisions since then, like leaving my ex-husband, seeking a divorce, and then moving 300 miles away to go to University, and that’s a tremendously liberating thing, knowing the freedom to have an abortion has given me that sureness of knowing my own mind.