Before furthering your journey on this website, it is a good idea to ask, "Why am I here?"
If it is to reclaim your own abortion records, ask yourself why you want them. Why you want to view them again. Is it for the reason I had? To further your journey of healing and forgiving? Or possibly something underlying. These records are not easy to look over, and I never want any woman to feel like it will be and have a false hope of miraculous healing. I never want a woman to retrieve her records to punish herself for the act that occurred however long ago. This may not be the right time to get your records back, but only you can decide this. Pain, sadness, depression. . . Those are all common with this realization and I do not want women to feel alone or like they have to go through all this to heal. Please know there are many healing organizations and numbers you can go to and call if you feel those steps may be a better fit for now. Some of which are at the bottom of this page.
If it is to reclaim your own abortion records, ask yourself why you want them. Why you want to view them again. Is it for the reason I had? To further your journey of healing and forgiving? Or possibly something underlying. These records are not easy to look over, and I never want any woman to feel like it will be and have a false hope of miraculous healing. I never want a woman to retrieve her records to punish herself for the act that occurred however long ago. This may not be the right time to get your records back, but only you can decide this. Pain, sadness, depression. . . Those are all common with this realization and I do not want women to feel alone or like they have to go through all this to heal. Please know there are many healing organizations and numbers you can go to and call if you feel those steps may be a better fit for now. Some of which are at the bottom of this page.
When I talk about the day that I finally regained my abortion documents (my medical records from that day), so many women tell me they didn't realize they could get their own records back. Dozens of women have told me that they, too, will now be demanding access to their medical records.
By encouraging women to obtain their abortion documents, too, I hope that they can start or continue their healing process after their own abortion by filling in the blanks that they may have in their own pasts that their abortion documents can fill in.
It isn't easy, especially since the records with have sonogram photos of the unborn baby that was aborted that day. But it is something I strongly encourage every post-abortive mother to do. It is our right to have our medical records and it is our right to have answers about the day that many of us have likely blocked out.
I'm here to support you through this trial if you decide to get your abortion documents, too.
____________________________________________________
When I had my abortion, it was a blur. Even the drive to and from the clinic was something I seemed to block from my mind. Near the end of 2011, I decided that getting my abortion documents was something I needed to do. I was very emotional and very angry, as the pain of what happened to me continued to sink in. (and being pregnant and feeling my daughter kick within my womb made it all that more real.) I put off finding my records for over a year, and am very lucky that the clinic still had them. However the journey to finding them proved to be more difficult for me than I thought.
Because of the blur of that day, I called almost 10 different abortion clinics, trying desperately to find which one had my records. Praying none were lying to me. I eventually called a clinic and described what I could remember the building looking like, and the woman on the other line told me she knew the clinic I was talking about. She mentioned that they shut down and moved, which is why I was unable to locate them off the bat. What surprised me out of all of this, was that I had had my abortion at Planned Parenthood. That showed me just how foggy my mind was during that entire time, as I do not remember anything to do with Planned Parenthood and my abortion.
After getting the number for the right clinic, I made the phone call that started my journey. When I called this Planned Parenthood, I then had to be transferred to the larger Planned Parenthood here in Colorado. I was told I must go to a Planned Parenthood in person and sign a waver saying I will allow them to dig for my records so I may retrieve them. As the day arrived where I went to a Planned Parenthood to sign my documents, one thing sticks out above it all. As I waited for the woman at the front desk to get off the phone with another person from my original Planned Parenthood, I continued to hear this said over and over. "I don't know, she just wants them." (meaning my records) I eventually found out that this is normally strange for abortion facilities, as most women try not to remember they ever had an abortion. Most want to shut it out of their lives completely.
Because of this, and because of the lies I have found out about due to my recent records, as well as the amount of closure they have brought me, I believe more women should go and claim their abortion medical records back. Especially the women who are seeking to help with their pain of that action, and looking for closure just as I was. Here, you can be you and be honest, and find nothing but love and support. You are beautiful, and you can heal.
-Albany
By encouraging women to obtain their abortion documents, too, I hope that they can start or continue their healing process after their own abortion by filling in the blanks that they may have in their own pasts that their abortion documents can fill in.
It isn't easy, especially since the records with have sonogram photos of the unborn baby that was aborted that day. But it is something I strongly encourage every post-abortive mother to do. It is our right to have our medical records and it is our right to have answers about the day that many of us have likely blocked out.
I'm here to support you through this trial if you decide to get your abortion documents, too.
____________________________________________________
When I had my abortion, it was a blur. Even the drive to and from the clinic was something I seemed to block from my mind. Near the end of 2011, I decided that getting my abortion documents was something I needed to do. I was very emotional and very angry, as the pain of what happened to me continued to sink in. (and being pregnant and feeling my daughter kick within my womb made it all that more real.) I put off finding my records for over a year, and am very lucky that the clinic still had them. However the journey to finding them proved to be more difficult for me than I thought.
Because of the blur of that day, I called almost 10 different abortion clinics, trying desperately to find which one had my records. Praying none were lying to me. I eventually called a clinic and described what I could remember the building looking like, and the woman on the other line told me she knew the clinic I was talking about. She mentioned that they shut down and moved, which is why I was unable to locate them off the bat. What surprised me out of all of this, was that I had had my abortion at Planned Parenthood. That showed me just how foggy my mind was during that entire time, as I do not remember anything to do with Planned Parenthood and my abortion.
After getting the number for the right clinic, I made the phone call that started my journey. When I called this Planned Parenthood, I then had to be transferred to the larger Planned Parenthood here in Colorado. I was told I must go to a Planned Parenthood in person and sign a waver saying I will allow them to dig for my records so I may retrieve them. As the day arrived where I went to a Planned Parenthood to sign my documents, one thing sticks out above it all. As I waited for the woman at the front desk to get off the phone with another person from my original Planned Parenthood, I continued to hear this said over and over. "I don't know, she just wants them." (meaning my records) I eventually found out that this is normally strange for abortion facilities, as most women try not to remember they ever had an abortion. Most want to shut it out of their lives completely.
Because of this, and because of the lies I have found out about due to my recent records, as well as the amount of closure they have brought me, I believe more women should go and claim their abortion medical records back. Especially the women who are seeking to help with their pain of that action, and looking for closure just as I was. Here, you can be you and be honest, and find nothing but love and support. You are beautiful, and you can heal.
-Albany
_______________________________________________________________________
Suicide / self-harm prevention: LIFELINE: 1 800 273 TALK (8255)
http://rachelsvineyard.org/
http://www.surrenderingthesecret.com/