Amy felt torn while waiting inside the abortion clinic.
Upset and confused, she didn’t want another baby, especially at 38 years old. But during her appointment, her mind replayed the sound of her unborn baby’s heartbeat heard through the ultrasound, over and over again.
“All I kept thinking about was the heartbeat,” said Amy, who asked her last name be kept private. “There were so many times I was just going to walk out, but I felt myself going through the motions.”
She received two pills to cause what she rationalized would be a miscarriage and end her 8-week pregnancy.
“The next thing I knew I took the pill, the first one. As soon as I left, I broke down and started crying,” she said.
Amy had taken Mifepristone, also known as RU-486 or the abortion pill. The oral contraceptive acts as an antiprogestogen and breaks down the lining of the uterus. Without progesterone, the placenta fails, cutting off nutrients to the embryo. The second oral pill, Misoprostol, is taken within 72 hours of the first to start contractions and induce an abortion.
Less than a day after taking the first pill, Amy knew she made a mistake.
“I just thought there has to be a second chance,” said Amy, who is married and the mother of three girls.
The next morning, recalling the words “abortion reversal” from a Facebook post she had seen, Amy began a search online. One of the top results was an abortion reversal hotline that referred her to Bella Natural Women’s Care in Englewood.
She drove from Brighton and met with nurse practitioner Dede Chism—also co-founder of Bella—who explained how to reverse an abortion.
“All I kept imagining is these people are going to give me dirty looks…” Amy said. “I just came in and I broke down and they started praying over me and made me feel comfortable.”
Amy said the staff then gave her three shots, three days in a row, to counteract the effects of the abortion pill. Then she received injections every other day until she passed her first trimester.
Nurses told her there was a 60 percent chance her baby would live. But now 5 months into her pregnancy, her baby boy is growing and healthy.
“I feel guilty to say I made that decision to take the first pill,” Amy said. “My guilt is why I want to educate people so they’re not impacted negatively. I’m very happy. I’m so happy I’m having another baby.”
Bella has successfully helped two women reverse abortions, Chism said. Their clinic offers abortion pill reversals, as does Our Lady of Hope Medical Clinic in Centennial owned by Dr. Edwin Anselmi.
Amy will share her story at Bella’s June 25 fundraiser at Cherry Hills Country Club in Englewood. It’s the clinic’s first formal fundraiser seeking support, and prayers, for its work to treat women.
“People that you love should be receiving care for the most intimate parts of their body with absolute reverence and dignity,” Chism said.
The clinic has registered 600 patients since its opening in Dec. 2014. Chism and her daughter, Abby Sinnett, nurse practitioner and associate director, offer care for women of all ages. They also teach natural family planning and help to restore the whole woman.
Chism said they also want to spread word about the possibility of abortion pill reversals, a service they think is unknown.
“We have all kinds of ideas in our heads what abortion looks like,” Chism said. “Actually, it’s a quiet secret happening in the homes of thousands of Americans.”
Amy, who said she was raised Catholic and is Christian, said she never thought of herself as a person who would want an abortion.
“I wasn’t the type of person to even think about getting an abortion,” she said. “But I was very upset that I was pregnant. I didn’t want to have a baby. I just started getting into this dark place.”
She thought about child care and the expense of a child, and how she would rather take vacations.
“I realized when you do bad things there’s no positive outcome,” she said. “I have good a marriage with my husband. There was no reason not to have this child.”
She said she is grateful for Bella and the care she received. Now she can’t wait to have her first son.
“All I’ve been doing is fighting for this baby,” Amy said. “I don’t care if anyone thinks I’m too old to have kids. That’s what I was going through at the time. All I care about is my little one.”
Summer Soirée
Open house, Mass with Archbishop Aquila and fundraiser benefiting Bella
Starting 4 p.m. June 25
www.BellaNWC.org
