I had an abortion at 16 weeks. I was 27. My boyfriend and I had just bought a house. Having a child was not planned, but we were not avoiding having children. So I got pregnant. Then I got dengue. I also, was not taking care of myself.

Then I had a realization that I was not ready to be a mother…I was an engineer and wanted to focus on myself and my career…I had not travelled enough…I had not matured enough…I did not want to be permanently attached to my boyfriend either. Was I selfish and immature, yes. That is exactly the reason why I have not regretted it one bit.

This child would’ve not been happy. Even if I was the best mother I could have been, I would have not been a good mother. I still had a lot of baggage to deal through. Now I am 35 years old and am in a better place. Just got married last year. Have experienced and learned from life. I am still not sure if I want to have a child. But if I do, I will be able to raise that child from a good place. Increasing the chances that she or he will be happier than I have been. And that is what is all about, making our children life much better than it was for us.

It is not the glamorization of abortion. Is about the maturity as a society to understand that the government should not control our bodies. That as a society we all benefit from women recognizing when they are ready to bring loving and productive people into this world. It doesn’t matter if I agree or not with the reasons why women have abortions, if they do decide this is their path they should have access to a safe medical procedure and not being shamed and treated like less of a person.