The Hidden Cost of Abortion
Becoming pregnant is probably the most life changing event most women experience. Few women would instinctively choose to have an abortion, but the fear and panic they experience in their unplanned pregnancy can make abortion seem the best solution. Society has given women the message that following an abortion their life can carry on as before. This is very often not the case.
Countless women find, to their emotional cost, that life is never the same again because, however early an abortion takes place, a mother loses her baby. This is the root cause of her grief and guilt, the reason why many women seek help and support.
Abortion Recovery Care & Helpline (ARCH) is dedicated to promoting emotional and psychological support by the provision of counselling and supportive help to those in need.
British Victims of Abortion was set up in 1987 in response to the many requests for help received from women who had experienced difficulties, both emotionally and physically following their own abortions. In 2010 our name was changed to Abortion Recovery Care & Helpline (ARCH)
Post Abortion Trauma
Post Abortion Trauma is formally defined as a category of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which may either be acute or delayed. There are a wide range of symptoms, including:
- A sense of emptiness and loss.
- Feelings of anger, guilt and remorse.
- Depression.
- Relationship difficulties.
- Sleep disturbances - recurrent dreams.
Manifestations of Post Abortion Trauma
Some or many of these symptoms may be displayed by the woman who has had an abortion and is experiencing trauma. Keep in mind, many women do not break denial and begin the healing process until seven to ten years after the abortion. These manifestations may occur much sooner and she may seek help for one of these problems without revealing her abortion.
- Low self-esteem
- Depression
- Guilt
- Grief
- Suicidal ideation
- Broken relationships
- Anger
- Flashbacks
- Drug/Alcohol abuse
- Sexual dysfunction or promiscuity
- Eating disorders (Anorexia, Bulimia)
- Phobias
- Atonement or replacement baby (many women become pregnant within 1 year of the abortion. Emergency pregnancy Counsellors report that as many as 50% of their clients have had a previous abortion)
- Fear for her surviving children
- Inability to express emotions
- Psychic numbing
- Possible physical pain (Psychogenic/psychosomatic pain such as cramping and cervical pain)
- Difficult labours
- Premature deliveries
- Repeated miscarriages
- Infertility
- Sleep disturbances
- Hyper alertness
- Trouble concentrating
- Avoidance of activities that remind her of children/abortion/pregnancy
- Lost relationships
- Self punishment
- Anxiety in subsequent pregnancies
- Creation of phantom child
- Fascination with children and birth which could become an obsession.
What to Expect from Society
Catherine Sanders, Ph.D. in her book "How to Survive the Loss of a Child" states, "Like miscarriage, induced abortion is not considered to be a source of grief. Unlike miscarriage, abortion is usually kept secret and carries with it a sense of guilt and shame. Society gives those who go through an induced abortion no liberty to acknowledge grief or loss. Needless to say, society at large rarely helps a woman deal with her loss when she has chosen abortion. She is not comforted in her loss."
What is Abortion Recovery?
Abortion Recovery is a counselling specialty that helps individuals and families overcome the emotional trauma experienced after an abortion. Recovery is free, always confidential and is available to ANYONE impacted by the loss of a child by abortion. Abortion Recovery changes your life forever. It gives you a sense of personal peace which heals internal brokenness, repairs relationships and brings back intimate friendships. Recovery gives a new beginning to life following an abortion.
Who should consider recovery?
If you have experienced an abortion, or been involved with someone who has, you may be struggling to come to peace with that decision. Many are affected by after abortion trauma:
- the woman who had the abortion,
- the person who paid for an abortion
- children that were told their lives would be easier because a younger sibling was aborted
- the friend who drove a woman to the clinic pregnant, and back home "un" pregnant
- the dad whose wife/girlfriend chose abortion against his better judgment, consent or even without his knowledge
- a school counsellor who scheduled the appointment
- the grandparent who talked, supported or drove their daughter to the abortion or may not even had known of their son/daughter's pregnancy.
- a family member, friend, counsellor or clergy, who tried to talk a mother/father out of an abortion, and failed
- the nurse, clinic worker or abortion doctor who later regrets their participation in taking the lives of the unborn
Any of these people might suffer from after abortion trauma. YOU could suffer too! For many, emotions surface after the abortion experience, due to unresolved psychological, physical and spiritual aspects. Symptoms are similar to those in any post traumatic stress disorder.
If you are struggling after abortion call us now on
0845 603 8501
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