# Females, if you found out you were pregnant right now, what would you do?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [July 1, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621 "2005-07-01T01:38:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/1 "2005-07-01T01:38:15Z")
Would you keep it? Give it up for adoption? Or…well, get rid of it?
And it doesn’t matter if you’re too old to have kids or can’t. Let’s say, aside from all that, you find out you really are pregnant, despite what is or isn’t possible.
What do you do?
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### Author:  [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/2 "2005-07-01T01:40:06Z")
Pour out my drink and put out my cigarette.
/not female.
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### Author:  [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/3 "2005-07-01T01:40:45Z")
I’d call the Vatican.
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### Author:  [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/4 "2005-07-01T01:42:37Z")
Uh…call the Pope?
Seriously, I would do my best to keep it. Somehow. Even though I have no job, no benefits, and no boyfriend. I’m pretty sure my parents and brothers would help, and I have friends who would move heaven and Earth to help me.
However, if it didn’t work out, I would have the baby and give it up for adoption - an open adoption if at all possible. While I would never question another woman’s decision to abort and believe very strongly that abortion should be legal, the only circumstances I would consider an abortion would be if there were something terribly wrong with the baby.
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### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/5 "2005-07-01T01:44:34Z")
Right now? Abortion.
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### Author:  [@Liz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liz)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/6 "2005-07-01T01:47:19Z")
Indulge in a side of rare roast beef. Very rare.
Then start eyeing my strange neighbors who play the weird music in the middle of the night.
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### Author:  [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/7 "2005-07-01T01:47:44Z")
“Get rid of it”? Are you unable to call a medical procedure what it is, an abortion? Although it may not be your preferred choice, it remains a viable option for other women who find themselves in a crisis pregnancy, and your choice of words make it sound like a shameful, dirty secret.
As for me, I have no idea what I’d do. Probably lean towards keeping it, but it woud be a difficult decision at this point in my life. Single mom of 3 here and barely making it as it is.
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### Author:  [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/8 "2005-07-01T01:51:29Z")
Call my doctor and find out how it is I can have a full period, no sex after it, and still be pregnant, even on the pill. Then, I’d set up an appointment to have an abortion.
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### Author:  [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/9 "2005-07-01T01:53:32Z")
I would abort. There are too many health risks for me, including but not limited to the risk of gestational diabetes, for me to be willing to risk carrying a pregnancy to term.
However, my answer does not change if I did not have those health risks. I have no business bringing a child that I cannot take care of into this world, and I don’t buy the “give another family a baby” arguement - there are lots of kids who need homes _right now_.
That said, **Ginger** stole my answer, darnitall. 😉
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### Author:  [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/10 "2005-07-01T01:59:15Z")
> [@trublmakr](#):
>
> … your choice of words make it sound like a shameful, dirty secret.
Sorry…you don’t always know how someone will react at something. I have no qualms using the word abortion. I just didn’t know how people here would take it and tried to be respectful.
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### Author:  [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/11 "2005-07-01T01:59:39Z")
Freak the hell out, first of all. I lean towards keeping it, but in all honesty, I have no idea what I would do. I’ve thought about it often, but I don’t think it’s a decision I could make until it actually happened.
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### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/12 "2005-07-01T02:10:12Z")
> [@Idle Thoughts](#):
>
> Sorry…you don’t always know how someone will react at something. I have no qualms using the word abortion. I just didn’t know how people here would take it and tried to be respectful.
Honestly, I almost made the same comment as **trublmakr** , but I decided not to because euphemisms like that are a pet peeve of mine and I thought maybe I’d be overreacting. Now, though . . . while I get that you were trying to be respectful, I really can’t imagine how anyone would find the word “abortion” offensive. It’s the _act_ that some object to, not the word for it. If anyone is that sensitive about the word, one would hope they wouldn’t stick their nose into this thread! 😉
IMHO, the word “abortion” is like the word “condom”: if you’re not mature enough to say it, you’re not mature enough to be having sex.
(I know, I know, the old saw is that you should be mature enough to _buy_ a condom. I don’t think that goes far enough, though, so I like to say that you need to be mature enough to say the word. And, it makes for a better analogy. :p)
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### Author:  [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/13 "2005-07-01T02:20:04Z")
Right now? I’d ask hubby what he wanted to do. We both created the child and we’re both responsible for it.
Personally I’d be leaning toward abortion, myself. If he wanted to keep it, I’d certainly look into the options, but with hubby not working due to Visa restrictions, and myself being the only income earner at all, there’s just not any way we could afford it right now. And I don’t like children or think I’m mature enough to be a mother now anyway.
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### Author:  [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/14 "2005-07-01T02:20:18Z")
I’d see a doctor, pronto. I’ve had a tubal ligation. If I’m pregnant, it is most likely ectopic.
If it is a viable pregnancy, I guess we’d be preparing for another kid…
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/15 "2005-07-01T02:27:39Z")
Well, first I’d look up the doctor who removed my ovaries, tubes, and uterus, to tell him that he missed a few things. Then I’d schedule an abortion. I’m 47, I’m on insulin, and I have congestive heart failure, among other problems. Even if I WANTED a baby at my age, I’d never survive a pregnancy.
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### Author:  [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/16 "2005-07-01T02:28:49Z")
I would have an abortion.
My youngest son is autistic, and any subsequent children would be at extremely high risk for being autistic as well, probably more severely. And I couldn’t handle it.
It’s such a damn shame, because I LOVE being pregnant and LOVE having babies. I would have babies and give them to childless gay couples every year if only I could.
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### Author:  [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/17 "2005-07-01T02:30:17Z")
I’d post on the internet about it.
Duh. 😉
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### Author:  [@Amaranta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amaranta)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/18 "2005-07-01T02:43:25Z")
I don’t know. I can think of a lot of reasons not to get pregnant - broke pre-med student, no serious relationship, a boss that wouldn’t take kindly to it.
However, if I did find out I was pregnant, I would want to consult the father, as it would be his kid too. I’d most likely opt for abortion - though I could try to change my lifestyle and job for a kid, I know I’m not ready to have a little kidlet depending on me. Which raises an interesting question - what would I do if the father really, really wanted to keep the baby, was interested in raising it, was strongly opposed to abortion? Not that I would let someone talk me out of an abortion if I felt that was my only option, but I don’t know how I’d feel in that situation. Hmmm.
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### Author:  [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/19 "2005-07-01T02:50:02Z")
I’d have it. Boy would it be ugly, though. I have been sleeping with someone very ugly lately. But I’d love it just the same. I’d try to raise it to have a good personality. It would be hard to figure out how to make a living with a baby. I think I might be able to do the same thing I’m doing now, but I might have to ask grandparents to babysit a lot. But I think my mom would actually like that so it would probably work out.
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### Author:  [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/20 "2005-07-01T02:50:38Z")
I’d start going to church again.
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