Terminating a Wanted Pregnancy: A Feminist, Analytic Autoethnographic Account

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.