I feel like I have a thousand stories of how I’ve used reproductive health care. Because I was born with female genitalia, it’s been part of my whole life. I was able to go to Planned Parenthood as a teenage girl who had decided she wanted to lose her virginity. My body, my choice, and on my terms. Planned Parenthood made this possible with education, empowerment, and access to safe sex! They set me up for a lifetime of healthy, happy sex!

I used reproductive health care when, 14 years later, my much wanted and planned pregnancy was diagnosed as ectopic, in the ER, just as it ruptured. I was rushed to emergency surgery and lost a lot of blood but came out okay.

I used reproductive health care to seek help conceiving a very desired child. And then used it once again, five years later when, divorced and in a healthy happy new relationship, that baby finally made it’s way to me as the best unplanned surprise of my life.

For nine months (actually 38 weeks), I was cared for and educated about my options for pregnancy and childbirth. I was a miserable pregnant person but childbirth rocked (thanks to the choice of epidural). I felt supported and part of the childbirth team. This is my favorite reproductive health care story because it ends with my healthy happy boy who is five months old.