The Voice of Women: True Life Stories #1 ‘Love’ Doesn’t Mean Ready
“It happened when I was 22,” she mentioned the beginning of her story about terminating a pregnancy or having an abortion. She said that due to poverty, her mother, who was abandoned by her father, wanted her to marry the son of a shop owner, who had a better future than working in the fields and doing odd jobs. But her life was as her mother hoped for only one year, because her husband had a habit of being oppressive, having been raised spoiled like a rich kid, similar to a drama character who likes to do whatever he wants and is irresponsible.
“When I was pregnant, he didn’t take care of me at all, didn’t take any responsibility. While pregnant, I had to stay at my mother’s house, grow cucumbers to save money for childbirth. Meanwhile, he was drinking and seeing other women. When he ran out of money, he would come to take money from me at my mother’s house. Simply put, my money was his money, but his money was his money.” This often led to arguments, which escalated over time to physical abuse. Moreover, instead of helping her, her mother-in-law sided with her son. Every time they argued, she would help restrain her so her son could hurt her, which made the thought of terminating the pregnancy first cross her mind.
“I bought blood-purging pills to take, but they didn’t work,” she said in a flat but firm voice, indicating the suffering that didn’t end there. She recounted the subsequent problems she faced, saying that during the day she had to tend to the cucumber garden alone, and at night she had to tap rubber to earn money for childbirth, which she did until she was eight months pregnant.
“After giving birth, he took me to live with him at his house. I stayed there for two months without money because the baby was born before we could harvest and sell the cucumbers. There was no milk for the baby, and he didn’t care. When I told my mother-in-law, she said there was none because I ate too much and spent all his money, so there was nothing left for the baby’s milk. Even though the food I got from their house each day was just three skewers of grilled pork, which I had to divide for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
“As a mother, seeing my child cry for milk, I couldn’t think of anything else and decided to steal. I became a thief with a group of neighbors who also had nothing to eat. When I went, I left my child with a friend’s partner and joined the group.” She earned a few thousand baht, enough to recover and return to work to earn money to raise her child. To avoid repeating history, she chose to use every possible method of birth control available at the time. However, two months later, she became pregnant again.
“I was like a vessel for his emotions because he had sexual urges very often. No matter how much I tried to prevent it, it failed. Nothing is 100% effective, and every time he would beat me. He was responsible only for causing it but not for me. I wanted to escape but couldn’t. At that time, I didn’t know the law. He threatened to call the police because a wife is a husband’s right, so I had to stay.”
Thank you to the story owner and for allowing it to be shared.
Source: “Suffering Without Legal Support” Open Heart “Rang-Supaporn” From Abortion Woman to Volunteer Consultant for Unplanned Pregnancy https://www.posttoday.com/social/general/580407