Experiencing Abortion

If you've had an abortion and are feeling isolated and vulnerable, Experiencing Abortion will remind you that you are not alone and that you must feel your emotions in order to accept your choice and heal. Each woman responds to abortion in her own way, yet, as this sensitive, insightful book shows, there are many similarities among women's post-abortion emotions. Sharing in the firsthand, personal experiences of other women who speak for themselves in this book will help you come to terms with anguish, stress, grief, anger, or any other overwhelming emotions you might be feeling. Don't go on ignoring or blocking out your feelings. Learn to incorporate your experience into your sense of self in a healthy way.By reading Experiencing Abortion, you will learn about the multiple feelings and reactions abortion can trigger, the process of accepting an abortion, and the struggle to control fertility without treating your body as an enemy. Offering you a safe, honest, and supportive environment in which to explore your feelings about your abortion, this book discusses many important topics, including: - the way moods can overtake you after abortion - how avoiding your experience can defer acceptance, which in turn leads to denial and guilt - how pregnancy, abortion, and subsequent bleeding can affect your perception of your body - the struggle to enjoy sex after your abortion - your heightened awareness of gender after an abortion - how your intimate relationships may change after an abortion - the psychological reasons you may sometimes forgo birth control - accepting yourself after a second abortionExperiencing Abortion will help women who have had an abortion understand that it is a complex physical and emotional experience that doesn't necessarily end after a week or a month or a year. It will also help professionals in abortion facilities and therapists who offer pre- and post-abortion counseling understand how abortion affects each individual differently and how they might help women work through their feelings both before and after abortion. Partners, friends, and families will find this book helpful and informative as they try to help their loved one get through this sometimes difficult, even traumatic, experience.

Kushner, Eve

Contents Foreword - Preface - Acknowledgments - Part I: Responding to the Changes - Chapter 1. Moving Through Moodiness - Chapter 2. Coping With Stress and Regaining Control - Chapter 3. The Empowering Force of Anger - Chapter 4. Allowing Ourselves to Grieve the Losses - Chapter 5. Relief: Now and Later - Part II: Working Toward Acceptance - Chapter 6. Lifting the Veil of Denial - Chapter 7. A New Self Emerges - Chapter 8. Feeling Sure of the Decision - Chapter 9. In the Mind's Eye: What the Fetus, Pregnancy, and Abortion Mean to Us - Part III: Our Bodies--Friends or Enemies? - Chapter 10. Making Peace With Our Bodies - Chapter 11. Preventing Pregnancy, Preserving Pleasure - Chapter 12. Ending More Than One Pregnancy - Part IV: When Relationships Shift - Chapter 13. Breaking Through Silence - Chapter 14. Family: When We Confront Our Biggest Fans and Harshest Judges - Chapter 15. Friends: When Pregnancy and Abortion Test Platonic Ties - Chapter 16. Partners: When the Crisis Highlights a Relationship's Strengths and Weaknesses - Chapter 17. Gender Awareness: When Feelings About Women and Men Change - Part V: Moving On - Epilogue: Feeling Better After Abortion - Recommended Reading - Index