I have never really used contraception. When I first started having sex at 15 my partner and I used condoms for the first couple of months but that didn’t last long. Generally, we relied on withdrawal and that worked so I guess we just thought it was safe. We were together for 5 years until I went to university. I didn’t get pregnant the whole time we used withdrawal – although twice when he didn’t pull out I went to get the ‘morning after pill’. Other than that there weren’t any issues. It worked for ages; I actually thought I couldn’t get pregnant and that something was wrong with me so I was going to book an appointment to see the doctor to check if everything was all right.

At university I met my current partner; we didn’t use any contraception either, but I guess we were just more compatible because I got pregnant quite quickly. I was very shocked to discover that I was pregnant, and it was a difficult choice to have an abortion. I have always wanted to have children and I’d spent a lot of time thinking that I might never be able to get pregnant. Talking to my sister and friend helped a lot, as well as my partner. He was worried that I might want to keep it and he definitely didn’t want to have a baby at that time. I kind of knew I had to do it because I was studying at uni and I had plans for my life that didn’t factor having a child at 21, but I was still quite upset after the procedure. It definitely was the right decision for me, but it’s just hard to get your head around really. It’s quite a big deal.