Circumstances, pressure, and fear often drive a woman to abortion. But Abortion Pill Reversal offers a second chance at choice.
Sarah became pregnant as she was about to finish her associate’s degree and transfer to a four-year university that she had worked hard to get into.
“I was upset and sad,” she said. “I felt like I made a huge mistake.”
The father of the baby was also not happy, Sarah said, and together they decided that she should have an abortion. This conflicted with the values of her upbringing.
“My entire life I grew up Christian and was always against abortion,” Sarah said. “So, I felt like I was turning my back on God’s plan.”
Her circumstances left her in a place of fear.
“I was very scared,” she said.
Sarah said after took the first abortion pill she left the facility “in tears feeling absolutely hopeless.”
A sidewalk counselor approached her as she went outside and told her there's a reversal process for the abortion pill, that she may not have to go through with the abortion.
“I sat in my car for the next few hours feeling so distraught,” Sarah recalled. “I didn't know what to do.”
Her thoughts turned back to her unborn child during this time.
“I began thinking about the life inside of me dying and I imagined my baby being greeted by God and my family in Heaven,” she said. “I totally broke down.”
Sarah called her father and told him what she was going through and the situation. He encouraged her to try to keep her baby. Sarah then chose to place her trust in God.
“I decided that this must be God's plan for me and I needed to trust His plan even if it was not a part of my plan,” she said.
Sarah contacted the Abortion Pill Rescue Network, a network of nearly 1,500 healthcare professionals, pregnancy centers, and hospitals worldwide that administer Abortion Pill Reversal (APR).
APR is an updated application of a treatment used since the 1950s to combat miscarriage. It entails prescribing progesterone to counteract the first abortion pill.
Mifepristone is the first of two drugs in a chemical abortion. It works by blocking progesterone in a pregnant woman’s system, starving her unborn child of necessary nutrients. The second drug, misoprostol, is taken a day or so after the mifepristone and prompts the mother to go into labor and deliver her presumably deceased child.
If a woman acts quickly enough after taking mifepristone it may be possible to save her baby with APR. Results are best within 24 hours, but successful reversals have occurred as long as 72 hours after the mother ingested mifepristone.
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All major studies show that using progesterone to counteract an in-progress chemical abortion can be effective because it is bio-identical to the hormone a woman’s body produces to sustain her pregnancy.
A 2018 peer-reviewed study showed positive results with APR, including that 64%-68% of the pregnancies were saved through Abortion Pill Reversal, there was no increase in birth defects, and there was a lower preterm delivery rate than the general population.
Statistics to date show that more than 7,000 lives have been saved through Abortion Pill Reversal.
“I reached out to the Abortion Pill Reversal team and immediately was told that they would begin searching for a doctor for me,” Sarah said. “I was given the resources I needed to reverse the pill and given a series of ultrasounds to make sure the baby was okay.”
Sarah gave birth to her baby girl in early November, a normal vaginal delivery at 40 weeks with no complications.
“She's perfect,” Sarah said.
Sarah first wrote and shared her story when Baby Cameron was a little over two weeks old.
“I love taking care of her,” she said.
Sarah said her academic career will be prolonged and she will reapply to transfer to the university for the subsequent school year. But she has no regrets.
“My plan had to change but my life is where it should be,” she said.
“And I am so happy I don't have to live with the decision to terminate my pregnancy,” said Sarah. “I'm so happy to have a baby and be a mom.”
Tweet This: “I'm so happy to have a baby and be a mom” - APR mom Sarah.
At first some of her family members were not supportive and Sarah said the pregnancy was sometimes difficult emotionally and mentally. But after a point everyone in her family became excited and they are now supportive and helping her. She said as well that for a time during her pregnancy she had an unstable living situation, and she was able to live in a maternity home for a couple of months.
But God has given her a path, she said, and provided her hope and assurance that everything will be okay.
“My pregnancy has given me a closer relationship to God,” Sarah said. “I needed Him more than ever while I was pregnant. And I'll be needing Him as I raise my child and as I work towards creating a stable and loving environment for her.”
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News. Heartbeat is currently the subject of two lawsuits brought by state AGs concerning sharing information about Abortion Pill Reversal.
