It’s never an easy decision – but it’s a decision every woman had a right to make over her own body and life. I was lucky not to be in Northern Ireland when I found out I was pregnant: instead, I was in a supportive and helpful environment where I was able to talk through things with doctors, family and friends. Here, however, it’s on the list of forbidden topics. No one – except for my partner – knows I had an abortion, and it is something that I guess could never really be talked about. Especially the older generation – but probably also his siblings, because of religious beliefs – would not accept, tolerate, understand, why I needed to have an abortion that time. I have two wonderful children now – but I never ever regretted making that decision. What I regret is the silence and stigma and lack of support that surrounds abortion in both parts of Ireland. That needs to change!