Expert: Pat G - 8/22/2010

Question
I had an abotion nearly a month ago, ive had a liitle pain but no spotting I've had brown discharge thou is this normal? Also how ling after an abortion will my period be and when do i start ovulating again

Answer
Hello, Helena,

First of all, having an abortion is not normal, and neither is anything that happens afterward. An abortion disrupts a woman's delicately balanced hormones and other body functions. Every woman reacts differently. So nobody can tell you how long it will be before you have a period or when you will start ovulating again. Much also depends on when the abortion occurs during a woman's pregnancy and things like that, and the type of abortion she had, and how much damage it does to her body. ALL abortions damage a woman's body. Without exception.

Your best bet is to learn fertility awareness, which will let you know when you start ovulating again. A woman gets transparent, slippery mucus when she is fertile. It stretches like a raw egg white. You can get more information about fertility awareness on this web site:

http://www.fertilityuk.org/

If you are thinking of resuming sex and you want to avoid another abortion, I recommend that unless you are married, you do NOT resume having sex. It's not in your best interest either, because of the chance of getting a sexually transmitted disease. You are at risk if your partner has had sex with any other person, regardless of whether he has told you about it or not. "Protection" doesn't work, and birth control isn't reliable, especially in an unmarried relationship. Among other things, sex is for making babies, and there are lots of ways it can defeat your best attempts to prevent pregnancy. If you aren't married, have a talk with your partner, and see if he will respect you and your body enough not to put you at risk again.

If the damage you have experienced isn't too great, you should expect both ovulation and your period any time at this point. It may still take a couple of weeks. You can test for pregnancy, and if you do two tests a week apart, you can see if the pregnancy hormones are declining. But pregnancy hormones persist for awhile, so a positive test does not mean you're pregnant unless you have since had sex when you were fertile.

I hope things go well for you. Please keep in touch and let me know what happens, and please keep yourself safe.