Do abortions affect being pregnant in the future?

Hello. I am 21 years old and last year, May 17, 2005 when I was 20 years old, I had an abortion. My boyfriend and I were just together for almost 5 months and we were not ready to have a child. We didnt know much about abortions and just did it. I had an infection after the abortion but it was taken care of with medication. Now, we are ready and have been trying for 8 months and not been successful. I am very scared and getting worried something is wrong with my. My doctor says they do not check to see if something is wrong until you have been trying for a year but I want to know now. I got pregnant with no problem when I had the abortion, we were not even trying! I know people say not to try because it just makes it harder to conceive so we just did it whenever and still didnt get pregnant. Also, I have found out my fertile days and we have done it on near and around them and also I tried the sticks to help see when the hormone is in your body that you go to the bathroom on and we have not been successful. I dont know how to calm myself down anymore and I am getting nervous and crying a lot. Can someone help me please, what can I do??

[AnnieBrooke]

An abortion by itself wouldn't affect future fertility.  A case of pelvic inflammatory disease would have more effect, but it sounds like you had a simple infection and it was handled, not allowed to run rampant.  8 months is not an unusual length of time to try to have a baby without getting there, I'm sorry to say.  One tip I got from my sister is that she and hubby BD'ed very early, like a week before she expected to ovulate, and that worked.  Hope some other posters also have tips for how to time it.  Annie

[first time mama]

Hi,
I am sorry your going through this.  I would recommend going to the doctor and requesting testing.  They normally do wait until you try for a year but I would think 8 mos is close enough and if you are super concerned they should understand.  BUT  it is completely normal for it to take 6 months to a year for a healthy couple to conceive, a baby is truly a miracle if you think of everything that has to be just right to conceive.  
Good Luck!

[D's mom]

hi i am sorry to say but depending how how carefully done and what type of procedure to conduct the abortion took place, the doc may have scared tissue or damaged your tubes or uterus in some way if he/she was not absolutely careful. My friend had a termination when she was 15, she was 8 weeks along and doc did not do a US to confirm the location of the baby as he said it was not nessary, he actually damaged her fallopian tube and stripped a lining of her uterus. Now she is 21 and has seen 5 docs, ranging form america to jaimaica and they all tell her she may not have due to the scaring. Please i do not mean to scare you and i wish you do not dwell on this and think its happening to you, i just dont want you receiving worng info, no offense to previous poster, i know you too is trying to help. like the second poster said, google and see, have the pid exam and have a pap smear, bllod test and us taken. your body changes over time and it may be simply due to that. You may need a ovulation boost. Look into to it and i wish you the best of luck.

[mandymoo1983]

you had an abortion then planned on having a baby just a few months later what the hell some people sorry bout that but i dont understand.

[mzullo125]

I spoke to the dr. that did the abortion on me and they said that I did have a safe and good abortion procedure, everything went well. They did the vaccum one and there was no scraping involved. I am going to go in for more appts. and have everything checked out I think. I spoke to the dr. and they said all my papsmears have come back normal and although I have had a lot of bacterial infections and just UTIs everything looks good. I dont know but it is frustrating me and making me scared. Thanks for your opinions because any events give me hope and also help me try to figured out what is happening, happened, or that might happen in the future. Thank you everyone!

[mommie2]

I hope that there is no problem for you to concieve (conceive). Don't think that because of a personal choice you made that you will be punished and not be able to have children. We are entitled to make decisions about our bodies, whether others agree or not. To be on the safe side I would get some testing done. I would have the DR do an ultasound to look at the uterus, tubes and anything else that could have been affected, chances are you are fine but having a clear mind will help you to enjoy TTC

[AndiJ78]

You are young and sometimes it can take a bit of time to get pregnant. Disregard the nastiness spewed by some women on here, keep your chin up and if things are meant to be right now, it will happen.

Andi

[mzullo125]

it was a bad decision, i do regret it and that is why we are trying. We did wait 7 more months which alot can happen. feelings can grow and people can become very close, since we were already close, we are still dating going on a year and half and we are just trying to concieve (conceive). Sorry for the people who i may have offended by having an abortion but it was the best thing at that time. I wasnt done w/ college. i dont think u would want me to bring a child into this world that i wouldnt have been able to take care of, that was the decision. Now we are ready and thanks everyone for the advice. I am going to make an appt. and have tests done just to make sure I am okay down there so I can have peace of mind and just let it happen. Thank you all!!

[disneymom2]

I know women who have had 3+ abortions and just as many children, so I don't think that the abortion is neccessarily the cause of this.  Sometimes it takes that long for women who haven't had an abortion to conceive. The ladies here will confirm that.  Just pay very close attention to your cycles, there are a lot of tools online you can use to help determine your fertile times.

[amylasvegas]

I have heard that scar tissue can build up because abortion is an invasive procedure. If so, the doctor may be able to help you. Make sure that you are in a committed relationship before deciding to conceive. There is actually a large no. of women who try to conceive almost immediately after having an abortion. It's called something like "replacement pregnancy?" This is when the guilt motivates you to get pregnant so your bad feelings will go away. I'm so sorry about your situation. My mother (now deceased) was a pro-life activist, but she taught us not to judge others and her organization also counsels women who have come to regret their decision. Other counseling centers do this as well. I'm not sure about your chances of conceiving, but I think you should concentrate on you first. You are worth it :)

[AnnieBrooke]

D&Cs, C-sections and other uterine surgeries can produce scar tissue, but scar tissue that causes problems with pregnancy is not an automatic result of any uterine procedure, which includes abortion.  I may not be one to have an abortion myself, but let's not pass along hearsay as science; unless an abortion is done dangerously or ineptly, it is no more likely to damage future fertility than any other uterine procedure, and less likely than some.  (I once read that, by the numbers, pregnancy itself is more dangerous to the mother's physical health.)  Not being able to conceive in only 8 months of trying is most likely to be luck of the draw (as we all know to our cost)!  If a physical cause of lack of conception is found, it rarely has to do with scarring inside the uterus. Scarring inside the uterus would interfere with a pregnancy more usually by being an impediment to a growing baby long after the baby had been conceived, if it interfered at all. (Many women with uterine scarring from surgeries and C-sections still carry to term.) Muzillo's problem is that she hasn't conceived, so it seems like uterine scarring is not the issue she is dealing with.

I agree strongly with amylasvegas' advice that someone should not rush into having a baby as a way to replace one that was lost, especially if remorse at an abortion is playing a role.  If a couple's relationship hasn't progressed to the lifetime-commitment stage, it seems early to push a 'having a child' agenda.  If you are going to have a child together, there will be many times that raising it will get rough, and you'll need a really firm foundation together to weather those tough times (unless you don't care if your bf stays in your life or not, and don't mind a whole ton of fighting later about custody).  You might want to think really hard about amy's question about why you are set on bringing a baby into the world just now.  It's a lifetime commitment for the baby, and should be a lifetime commitment for both parents.  If you're not both there, it would be so unfair to the child.

Best wishes and best of luck.  Annie

[first time mama]

It is just MY opinion but I really would wait until you are married. You are SO young, why rush? Why not enjoy this time of being young and having fewer responsibilities together, you have your WHOLE life to be a mother.  I guess I just don't get why you wouldn't wait to get married and then have a baby.  Marriage confirms your committment to e/o and your future children.  Again just my opinion:-)  I hope everything works out for you!

[mzullo125]

thank you very much for your replys everyone but we are committed, we just would rather be putting money towards a ring and a wedding for our baby. We are going be engaged over the summer, but I cant even wear a ring because of the swelling if i get pregnant so what is the point of having it if we know in our hearts...but I do understand where you are all coming from. We are also not replacing the aborted baby so you all understand, we are 100% ready financially and emotionally. I cant wait to go through the sickness, pains, and everything else that comes w/ this pregnancy, because it is all for my baby. I also havent had my period since may 1, 2006 and i usually am on 26 days inbetween my periods, so hopefully?? ahh cant get my hopes up...thank you all for everything all this feedback is great!

[myproblem]

ditto to first time mama
The best way to make sure "daddy" will be there for your baby, is for him to marry you before you get pg.