A positive pregnancy test result stunned Miriam (a pseudonym) amid filing for divorce. This would be her first child, and the breakdown of her marriage robbed her of the initial joy of envisioning an expanded family.
Her second hurdle; her own family members were not supportive.
“My mom and my brother had a very different mindset,” she told Pregnancy Help News. “They were like, yeah, you don’t want keep this kid.”
Miriam would receive messages daily from them reiterating their thoughts on how the only option for her given the circumstances would be an abortion.
“After pressure from family members I took the first abortion pill at 10 weeks and within an hour immediately regretted my decision,” she said.
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The struggle with regret over her choice was unexpected as Miriam had grown up in a liberal state where abortion was legal and accepted as a logical solution to unplanned pregnancy.
“It was a lot different than I thought it was gonna be,” she recalled. “I think the term my mom used was ‘it’s just a clump of cells.’ Then when you go in for the ultrasound you see it’s actually living.”
Mifepristone is the first pill in a two-part process of ending the life of an unborn child in a chemical abortion. It blocks progesterone, which is the essential hormone which maintains pregnancy.
Miriam had received the abortion pills at her home. So, her initial experience of regret and deep concern was at home alone.
“I started frantically Googling my options and found the APR 24-hour hotline and within 10 hours of taking the pill I was prescribed progesterone to reverse the effects,” Miriam wrote in an account of her Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) story.
A visit to the emergency room would not bring comfort or good news as she was told by staff that reversing the effects of the abortion pill is not an approved medical protocol.
“They refused to do it,” she stated. “They said it wasn’t approved or anything like that. They said they wouldn’t give progesterone or anything like that.”
Still, there was hope.
“I did have some vaginal bleeding about 24 hours after taking the first abortion pill, Miriam said, “but at the ER an ultrasound showed that my baby was miraculously still alive.”
While Miriam did not have an ultrasound before taking mifepristone since the abortion drug came to her in the mail, seeing her baby moving on the ultrasound at the ER was hard for Miriam and in fact a truth she simply could not “unsee” as she pondered what the pill she had taken was going to destroy.
With help from Option Line and an APRN nurse and doctor, Miriam was able to pick up a prescription for progesterone and immediately begin the process of reversing the effects of the first abortion pill.
“There was a nurse who got on the phone with me, and she was coordinating with a doctor and the next week I was able to get an ultrasound,” she said.
This was a second look at her baby who was still thriving.
The Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) which administers Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) has to date rescued more than 8,000 babies.
The ongoing support and information from the APRN and the pregnancy help clinic she had been connected with enabled Miriam to receive care that would rescue her daughter from the effects of the abortion pill.
The pregnancy help center was in the next state, one hour drive from Miriam’s home.
“I felt nothing but kindness and compassion from them,” she said.
“She was very active and healthy,” Miriam said of her unborn baby the follow up ultrasound at the pregnancy help clinic. They had a hard time doing the measurements.”
Miriam was able to deliver a healthy baby.
“My baby was born at 39 weeks and 5 days at a healthy 7 lbs. and 2 oz.,” she said. “And I am truly grateful to APR for the treatment that they provided because without them I wouldn’t have had my beautiful baby girl.”
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Miriam continues to be grateful for the quick response from the APR hotline, and the ongoing kindness of the pregnancy help clinic she visited as she values their compassion.
“They helped me mentally cope with my guilt and regret after what I did,” Miriam said.
Today she has ongoing help available through a local chaplain, and her family is now more understanding and have visited to see her baby girl.
Miriam hopes her story will encourage other women who may find themselves in her situation and that others will be tenacious when faced with misinformation about being able to choose life after taking the first abortion pill.
Her OB doctor had told her the office would not “be able” to provide progesterone treatment because the protocol was not offered by the practice, despite the fact progesterone has been used to combat miscarriage for decades.
“There’s a lot of like fearmongering where they say, it’s not approved,” Miriam said. “There’s no harm in trying and you could miss out on a miracle if you don’t try.”
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News. Hearbeat is currently the subject of two lawsuits brought by state AGs concerning sharing information about Abortion Pill Reversal.
