Expert: Doctor Early Options - 10/23/2008

Question
good day to you dr. joan, i'm from the philippines where abortion is illegal. i'm sincerely hoping and asking for your considerations to help me because i'm only 17 years old right now. and sad to say, i'm pregnant and i'm not willing to take the risks of giving birth to my child. i have no plans to tell it to my family cause they will surely don't understand my situation. i'm being confuse because it's my first time of getting pregnant. i'm so afraid to those things that could possibly happen to me when i will be taking a medical abortion all by myself in our home as i have read to other sites. i took a home pregnancy test by oct.8/08. and it appeared positive. supposedly, i should be having my menstruation by sept.19/08 and i skipped it until on the day i knew that i am pregnant. my bestfriend told me to take cytotec tablet. and i took 1 dose(200mg) of it yesterday oct.23 by midnight without heavy meals for the whole day. but nothing happened to me as of now. so i'm wondering if it is the right tablet to take. or if you could just kindly tell me how many tablets should i take every day and how many hours are the gaps of each tablet. i only bought one tablet because i'm not sure of it. pls dr. joan, help me. thank you very much for your time. and god bless, i hope god will still bless me even if i'm doing this. i think this is the right thing to do instead of taking chances of raising a child while me and my boyfriend have nothing to support of it yet. thank you!!!

Answer
Dear Charizza,
The misoprostol tablets alone are a common way that women try to end their pregnancies where abortion isn't legal.  It works about 80% of the time - however the problem is that if it doesn't work, it can cause serious birth defects.  If you are in the unfortunate situation that you take these tablets, and the pregnancy continues, you will be in a very, very difficult situation.  It is best to try to find someone to work with who can help you, and get a procedure, or the abortion pill (RU486 or mifepristone).  These are much more effective.

That said, if you want to try to do this, you will need to get a total of 12 tablets.  The instructions for use are on www.gynuity.org.  Search their site for: Misoprostol: instructions for use.  It will tell you how to take four tablets in your vagina, let them dissolve, and repeat in 24 hours, up to three times.  Please read their instructions to get all the information you need.  
Please let me know what you decide. I am sorry you are in such a difficult position and wish I could help you more directly.
I hope this is helpful,
Doctor Joan
EarlyAbortion.com
Early Abortion Specialist
New York City