I found a doctor in my community. I told him about my situation and he decided to “help” me. It was a risky situation for him, and I didn’t have the large sum of money he asked for.

He said he would reduce the price if I had sex with him. Scared, I accepted.

After I “paid” him, he inserted an injection and pills into my uterus. It was painful, like cramps, but worse. I couldn’t tell anyone, and I was worried because through the course of the night I hadn’t even bled. I was afraid it wouldn’t work and that I’d wind up with a sick baby.

I went to the doctor first thing in the morning. He examined me and said that I was so early into the pregnancy that my body reabsorbed it [the embryo remnants].

My period returned some time after. It was heavy, and it smelled bad, but I haven’t experienced any irregularities since. To date, I don’t know the repercussions this may have had on my body.

Nobody aside from my partner knew. I had to go on with my life as if nothing happened.

Dublin, Ireland

Until this spring, abortion was illegal in Ireland except to save the woman’s life.

Caoimhe: Both of us knew that there was no way we could afford to bring a child into the world. We knew what we had to do, so we booked an appointment for a surgical abortion at a clinic in Manchester [England] .

The surgery itself was horrible, but my nurse held my hand through it. As we were leaving, she told me to rest and take my antibiotics that evening. I should expect to bleed heavily over the next few days, but this was normal.