Expert: Pat G - 9/16/2010

Question
I had a surgical (vacuum aspiration) abortion on August 17th. Everything seemed normal, and I pretty much stopped bleeding 2 weeks after. Everything seemed to be going fine, until about 4 days ago. Me and my boyfriend had sex 2 weeks after the procedure, and have had sex a couple more times over the last two weeks. All of it was unprotected. Stupid I know, but anyways.. about 4 days ago I started bleeding again, and it was a brownish color which i figured is normal. But 2 days ago I started bleeding BRIGHT red, and its been happening off and on. I took a pregnancy test last week for my check up appointment, and it came back positive. They told me to try again today (Tuesday) and its still coming back positive. I have an appointment with the clinic of Friday to find out whats wrong, but is it possible that im pregnant again, even with all this bleeding? or is it still the hormones? I was 9 weeks and 2 days when I had the procedure.

Answer
Hello, Kim,

It sounds like you have a possible injury that goes beyond what is common. Abortion ALWAYS causes damage to a woman's body. But the first clue is that you bled for two weeks. From what I have seen, that's not common. The bright red could be a period, but with a positive pregnancy test, that is unlikely. It is more likely that the physical movement of sex plus the hormones of having sex have stirred an injury you had at the time.

There are so many things that can go wrong after a surgical abortion it's not funny. The long term consequences include harming your future children, including causing some fairly serious birth defects, breast cancer, auto-immune disease, and problems with a future pregnancy. There are other things that can also go wrong. If you don't want to face the same situation you did when you decided to have an abortion, you have to stop having sex. "Protection" doesn't work in the long run anyway. You really deserve better. Have a talk with your boyfriend about the risks you are taking. If he isn't willing to cherish you so that you don't have to face this again, you really deserve someone better.

As for the positive pregnancy test, it's hard to say whether it's leftover hormones or not. I sure wouldn't go back to that clinic, however. They can't be trusted. They won't want to admit they harmed you. If they truly cared about you, they wouldn't be doing abortions in the first place, because abortion is bad medicine. They had a duty to obtain your informed consent as well, and it is highly unlikely they did that. To make matters worse, most, if not all, abortion facilities won't even pass local health department inspections. They tend to be filthy, they often fail to sterilize their instruments properly, if at all, and the abortionists tend to be very careless.

But you really do need to see a doctor. Find a doctor who understands that abortion is bad medicine. If you need a referral, there are doctors affiliated with organizations that help pregnant women, who understand the medical problems involved. You can find an organization near you by going to this web site:

http://www.optionline.org/

The link to the lists is on the right, and not very obvious.

Good luck! Please let me know what you find out and stay in touch. If you are pregnant again, please don't have another abortion. The more abortions you have, the more damage is done to your body. Please take care, and stay safe!