Brigitte

Brigitte's story is collected especially for the SHHH project. All informants and stories in this project have been anonymised. All names are changed.

At the time I was a young woman, with my own job and my own money. My independence was important to me, my plans for my future, my liberty. I did not want to become a mother yet. 

I enjoyed my life and practiced sexual activity. My social environment, my friends and I preferred an alternative lifestyle, we trusted "natural birth control".

I became pregnant. Like me, my partner at that time was not ready to take over the responsibility for a child.

According to our abortion law, an abortion must be preceded by a counseling session. For this I decided to go to “Caritas”, an ecclesiastical organization. The advisory board was in the town where I lived. I got the address from my gynecologist. He also told me which hospital I could go to for the abortion.

I feared that the adviser would urge me to carry out my pregnancy. But it was not so. The adviser was very understanding. The conversation took thirty minutes.

Even today I feel comfortable with my decision, but I don’t like to speak about it often. I still get nervous if women say that they could never do that.

I am still thankful for the kindness and the understanding of my doctor and the staff at the hospital. Now, I am married and have three children with my husband.