Although my parents were very concerned about their children possibly getting pregnant or having sex, they never did anything to talk to me about it. They went out of their way to avoid any questions. I had been through a lot of destructive relationships with men and didn’t really understand much about how dating worked.

I had sex when I was 17, without much clue of how anything worked. So, alone, I went to Planned Parenthood, and thankfully was able to purchase the morning-after pill with my own hard earned $50 (I also bought 10 condoms for a dollar that day). I went to the home where I was house sitting and felt sick all day, having to stay up extra late to take the second dose. Alone. In secret. Constantly obsessing that word may get back to my parents, or someone may have seen me, or maybe my mom would just know from the look on my face.

I recently learned that my mother always knew I had started having sex at 17, but she never asked if I was using protection, if I enjoyed it, if I felt safe, or if I had any questions. I was alone with it. I had to find out for myself. Planned Parenthood was the only one that would listen.