Abortion today may mean future infertility

In my many years of practicing obstetrics and gynaecology, I have attended to thousands of women suffering from infertility due to abortion.

I recently had this 40-year-old patient who has been married for seven years with no child. She came to see me for investigation into the cause and after carrying out an ultrasound scan, I noticed there was a problem with her endometrial cavity. I asked her if she’d had a miscarriage and she said she’s not been pregnant since she got married.

I then asked her if she’s ever been pregnant and what happened to her. That was when she opened up and told me the whole story.

At a much younger age, she had her first sexual encounter which resulted in a pregnancy. Since they were not ready for marriage and in an effort to hide this from her parents, they both agreed to have an abortion and went to a clinic (qualified or not, we cannot tell) and had the procedure done.

Soon after, the relationship came to an end and she never had sex with any other man until she got married. For the seven years she tried to get pregnant, my client thought she’d been cursed especially as previous tests found she was normal.

Millions of women who have had abortions have gone on to have one or more successful full term pregnancies and deliveries. However, as with any medical procedure, there are certain risks involved. In the majority of cases where abortion has impacted fertility, this is been the result of post-operative infection, usually following illegal terminations that were not done in appropriate medical environments.

I am not here to condemn anyone, nor discuss moral issues of abortion. That is not my place. I am only interested in highlighting the dilemma most young people now face of unplanned unwanted pregnancy, which they terminate and later realise it has contributed to their infertility.