Terminating a Wanted Pregnancy: A Feminist, Analytic Autoethnographic Account

Abstract

With screening for fetal anomaly becoming more common, more families are faced with making decisions based on receiving fetal anomaly diagnoses after the first trimester. After receiving a diagnosis of fetal anomaly, which is typically associated with shock and denial, pregnant people and couples immediately become faced with a difficult decision of either continuing or terminating the pregnancy. Once a pregnancy termination decision has been made, following abortion of a wanted pregnancy, feelings of grief and sadness are common. While research has been done on the impact of decision-making and mental health diagnoses pre- and post-terminating a wanted pregnancy, there has been little research detailing effective coping strategies for dealing with these unexpected and devastating circumstances. The current study is a feminist analytic autoethnography, which details the experience of my own abortion through a reflexive account. I aim to explore my own methods of coping that were successful as I overcame grief, guilt, and anxiety after terminating my wanted pregnancy due to a fetal anomaly.