Note: This was written in reaction to the “Mommy, I am your baby” post that is currently circulating around Tumblr.  Thought it was about time we hear from the person who is actually self-aware and not just the clump of cells residing inside of them.

Hi, Fetus,

My name is Bria and I am the person whose uterus you are currently residing in. I am 28 years old and I actually have beautiful brown eyes and brown hair. Like, right now. Not “will” in nine months or so, but have it currently. I already have one child. His name is Ryatt and he has my beautiful brown eyes and brown hair. He is three years old and loves Thomas the Tank Engine. You? You don’t love anything, because right now, you are really just a clump of cells that has no cognitive development. You can’t love anything. Not me, not Thomas the Tank Engine, not flowers and birdies and sunshine. You get all your sustenance from me and cannot live on your own outside of my uterus.

But enough about you, let’s talk about me. Like I already said, I am 28 years old. This puts me in the majority age range for people who get abortions. (People in their 20s account for more than half of all abortions; people aged 20–24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and people aged 25–29 obtain 24%.) Like I said, I already have one child to care for (like 61% of people who obtain an abortion) and I currently have no place of my own and am living with my mentally and emotionally abusive mother. I have no job and don’t even qualify for social services because I have not lived in the state I am currently residing in for over 3 months. This is also pretty common among people who obtain abortions - 42% have incomes below 100% of the federal poverty level and 27% have incomes between 100–199% of the federal poverty level. I am looking for a job, but the economy is tough and there is not a lot out there. It’s even tougher for me because I was forced to drop out of college due to mental health issues that I am still dealing with today. So I have no college degree, which qualifies me only for menial jobs in retail or food service. Because these jobs pay so very little, I would never be there to raise you and would have to rely on others. This would probably be a complete stranger at a second-rate daycare center, as I am unwilling to leave you with my mother, have no other family and I can’t really afford to put you in a fancy, bells-and-whistles daycare.

These are all actually pretty common reasons why people obtain abortions. Three-fourths of people cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals; three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner.

Because I know when I am supposed to get my period, I knew I was pregnant almost right away. Turns out, this is pretty common, too, as over 61% of abortions are performed at less than 9 weeks from a person’s last menstrual period (which would be about 7 weeks from conception). At this point, you really have no thoughts or feelings because, remember when I said you were a clump of cells? I meant it. Those are pictures of what an abortion looks like when done between 5 and 6 weeks. Pretty stark contrast from the gory images that are normally shoved down your throat, huh, fetus?

And, fetus, while I may be a little sad after you are gone, a lot of really smart people have done a lot of really intensive studies and they have concluded that “post abortion syndrome” as a wide-spead occurrence is myth. Also, some more really smart people have assured me that abortion is pretty much one of the safest medical procedures I can undergo in the United States today and, that when performed in the first trimester, it poses little to no long-term risk to future pregnancies, should I ever decide to become pregnant again.

Fetus, as you can see, this is really the best decision for me and for the beautiful little boy who is sleeping with his arms curled around me. I want to go to school to become a sign language interpreter so I can hopefully get a place of my own and not have to rely on other people for my food and shelter. I want to provide a good, healthy, stable life for the child I already have and for any children I may have in the future. And I have thought about it a lot (because abortion is not something anyone enters into lightly) and I could not do that while caring for another child. I would apologize, but there is really nothing to apologize for. I am doing what I know in my heart is the absolute best thing for me and my son. You will not feel any pain, as you are not able to do that until about 24 weeks old, and you don’t even know you exist, so I doubt that you know that you are now gone.

Every abortion is just…

One more person exercising their right to bodily autonomy and self-determination based on what they feel is the best choice for them.

REBLOG IF YOU ARE PRO-CHOICE.

(All statistics, unless otherwise linked, have been provided by the Guttmacher Institute.)