It is okay to feel… Grief & Loss

It is okay to feel grief and loss. Everyone grieves differently over loss. Some show their emotions through tears and lots of crying, some isolate themselves while others prefer being around people. Others might feel better after creatively expressing their feelings, or just simply by speaking out about what they are going through. Whatever your coping mechanism with grief is, you are allowed to feel it and then heal from it.

You might grieve because it happened to you, because you had to make a choice or because you were not ready to terminate this pregnancy. Just because you made the decision, does not mean you are not allowed to grief or mourn. It is perfectly okay to feel these emotions.

To process the abortion, it might help to talk to a professional. Some examples can be found below:

• The Humanistisch Verbond is organising discussion groups guided by professionals for people who had an abortion (in Dutch)
• FIOM is organizing discussion groups guided by professionals for people who had an abortion (in Dutch)
• Private Facebook groups with people who had an abortion (e.g., Abortus community, Abortus nazorg community, etc.) (in Dutch)
• In Open over abortus, you can share your story anonymously and read stories from others (in Dutch)