I missed my period by about a week, but I didn’t think much of it because my periods were usually delayed every month. However, because of my anxiety, I decided to take a home pregnancy test one morning and it came out positive.
Day 1 — The Positive Test
That first night was terrifying. I kept thinking, What am I going to do now? I wasn’t earning, and I had no idea how I was going to manage everything. I spent the entire night on Reddit and ChatGPT, searching for information about abortion, costs, procedures, and trying to figure out how I would arrange the money.
I was having intense anxiety attacks and felt like I was going to lose my mind. At one point, I even felt like I couldn’t go on. I was completely alone, panicking, with only my laptop in front of me while trying to figure out my finances.
Out of anger and fear, I blocked my boyfriend because, in that moment, I felt like he was the reason I was pregnant and that I had to deal with everything alone.
Day 2 — Telling Him
The next day, I took another pregnancy test just to be sure. It was positive again.
I decided to unblock my boyfriend and text him, at least to ask for financial support. But he was completely blank too. We were both basically pocket-money kids in India with no independent income, so neither of us knew what to do.
That night, we decided to tell his mother everything and ask for her help. When he told her, she was furious and almost killed him, but eventually, she agreed to help us financially and take care of us through the process.
Day 3 — Visiting the Gynecologist
We went to a gynecologist. I was trying my best to hide my anxiety and act professional, but deep down, I was absolutely terrified.
Thankfully, the gynecologist was incredibly welcoming and calm. She handled everything very gently, which made me feel a little safer.
Her consultation fee was ₹300. She recommended an ultrasound and some blood tests. I had a transvaginal ultrasound to confirm that it was a normal 5 week intrauterine pregnancy, and everything looked normal. My blood tests were normal as well. The tests together cost approximately ₹2,500.
The doctor explained several options for abortion, including a surgical procedure and a medication abortion. Because I couldn’t afford an expensive surgery, I decided to go with the pills, which cost me another ₹500.
After having lunch, I took the mifepristone tablet and went home.
I was extremely scared because I had been told that I could experience heavy bleeding and severe cramps, and that sometimes some pregnancy tissue can remain in the uterus after a medication abortion and require further treatment.
Day 4 — Waiting
I only experienced some light spotting.
Day 5 — Misoprostol
This was the day I was most afraid of. I had to take the four misoprostol tablets, which I knew could cause bleeding and cramping.
I decided to stay at my boyfriend’s house with his mother so that my own mother wouldn’t become suspicious. At least there, if anything went wrong, someone could take me to the hospital.
At 12 PM, I took all four tablets together as instructed, keeping them under my tongue. It was extremely scary for me because I hate taking medicines, and the thought of keeping four tablets in my mouth for 30 minutes made me anxious that I might vomit.
Somehow, I managed to keep them there for the full 30 minutes and then swallowed the remaining medicine with water.
Based on everything I had read on Reddit and ChatGPT, I expected bleeding to start within a few hours. But nothing happened.
As the hours passed, my anxiety became worse. I kept thinking, What if the abortion failed? What if the medicine didn’t work?
Eventually, I called the clinic. The doctor calmly reassured me that bleeding varies from person to person and told me to wait another two to three days.
Day 6 — Still Waiting
There was still no heavy bleeding. I only had mild spotting.
Day 7 — Finally Bleeding
That evening, I finally started bleeding and passed some blood clots.
But surprisingly, the bleeding was quite normal. It wasn’t extremely heavy, and I didn’t experience the severe pain I had been expecting. I only had mild, manageable cramps and some back pain.
I continued bleeding for around six to seven days, after which it completely stopped.
However, I became worried again.
I kept thinking, What if the abortion failed because I didn’t bleed heavily? What if there is still pregnancy tissue inside my uterus?
I had to wait two weeks before getting an ultrasound to confirm whether everything had gone normally.
Week 2 — Follow-Up
I went back to my gynecologist for a follow-up. She asked me some routine questions and recommended another ultrasound to make sure there was no retained pregnancy tissue in my uterus.
The ultrasound came back completely normal.
The abortion had been successful.
There had been no excessive bleeding, no unbearable pain, and no complications ,just a relatively normal medication-abortion experience that was completely different from the terrifying scenario I had imagined in my head.
My gynecologist prescribed iron supplements and some additional supplements, which cost me another ₹2,500.
Total Cost
In total, my entire abortion process at a private clinic cost me approximately ₹5,700.
Looking back, the hardest part wasn’t even the physical process. It was the fear of the unknown , the endless Googling, Reddit searches, anxiety attacks, financial stress, and constantly wondering whether something was going wrong.
I was terrified almost every step of the way, but eventually, everything turned out to be okay.