About twelve years ago, at the age of 24, I missed a period and wondered why. I went to my college’s clinic for a pregnancy test and discovered that I was pregnant. I had only been with my boyfriend for about six months at the time, and was young, finishing graduate school, not working full time, and still living with my parent in a small one-bedroom apartment.

I knew immediately that I could not continue the pregnancy, so I immediately decided to have an abortion, and thankfully, living in New York City, this was not an issue. I used the pill version, and it was a challenging experience, but it was better than the alternative of being a mother to a baby with a guy that I did not know how long I would be with (we stayed together for two and a half more years and are still friends).

I also was not at a time in my life where I was mentally and financially ready to have a child. Afterwards, I took birth control pills and later got an IUD. I wish I knew that at 24 I could get birth control pill packs for $5 a month from my college clinic, because I might have been on it prior to the pregnancy. I also wish I knew about the IUD many years ago, but reproductive health information is not discussed as intricately as it should be.