"It Just Always Hurts So Much, Over and Over Again"

"After nearly three weeks, there are still many days when I deeply regret my decision and wish I had been in a better mental state and had more support to make a different choice. The reasons that seemed so overwhelming at the time and led me to this decision now seem so small, almost insignificant on some days...
I wish someone could tell me that it will eventually get better or that I’ll stop thinking about it. It just always hurts so much. In my circle of friends, the topic of a ‘second child’ is unfortunately very present, and that often confronts me with it. The question of whether we want a second child always comes up… In those moments, I just want to run away. Opinions are very divided, and yet it hurts to see when someone is pregnant.
Sometimes I think I just didn’t deserve anything better, and this is my punishment—that I have to suffer from this decision."

— Nadine*
 

^{*The name has been changed to protect the identity of the woman who was counseled.}