# Females, if you found out you were pregnant right now, what would you do? **URL:** \ **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:** 5
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/81 "2005-07-01T17:14:12Z")
I’d keep it. I’m 31, have a decent job and decent wages, and in a stable relationship. I have had an abortion (about three years ago) and I don’t want to do that again. Plus I’d love to have a baby. I might even get married. ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/82 "2005-07-01T17:33:50Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > It surprises me to see how many people have said that they would have to discuss this with the father. Whenever I start having sex in a new relationship, I try to have “the talk” as soon as possible. > Maybe my thinking is the result of being single, though; maybe things like this come up at the start of relationships, but as things progress (and feelings on the subject possibly change) you just don’t think to bring it up again. So I don’t mean to sound judgemental at all, I’m just surprised. I always did too. But you’d be suprised about how it’s a whole new ballgame once there is an actual pregnancy, instead of just a theoretical one, involved. ---
**Author:** ![Electrical\_Storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac8455/32.png) [@Electrical\_Storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electrical_Storm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/83 "2005-07-01T17:47:02Z")
I’ve got three young Silver1juniors. If I discovered I was pregnant today, I’d be very shocked because Mr. Silver1 and I have been very careful with the birth control thing, but we’d be planning for the fourth Silver1junior. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/84 "2005-07-01T17:56:15Z")
50 years old, haven’t had sex in over 20 years, never been pregnant, have a rare genetic blood type that causes me all sorts of trouble, and post-menopause. How the _fuck_ would I get pregnant? ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/85 "2005-07-01T17:57:05Z")
First, have a heart attack. Provided I’m still alive after that… Second, petition the Vatican for some child support. I am Hindu but I think they’re a little bit too decentralized and out of all the moneyed I don’t trust Sai Baba to not molest the latest avatar. Well, I take that back…Yogananda wasn’t a bad chap so I might petition the SRF Foundation in Pasadena first even though this isn’t exactly following the next avatar’s predicted coming… Third, get a DNA test b/c I’d like to see what God’s basic biological structure really looks like. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/86 "2005-07-01T18:45:27Z")
> [@anu-la1979](#): > > First, have a heart attack. Provided I’m still alive after that… > > Second, petition the Vatican for some child support. I am Hindu but I think they’re a little bit too decentralized and out of all the moneyed I don’t trust Sai Baba to not molest the latest avatar. Well, I take that back…Yogananda wasn’t a bad chap so I might petition the SRF Foundation in Pasadena first even though this isn’t exactly following the next avatar’s predicted coming… > > Third, get a DNA test b/c I’d like to see what God’s basic biological structure really looks like. This is one of the funniest rips on divine birth I’ve read in this thread. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/87 "2005-07-01T19:02:16Z")
I would be very happy like ------\> 😃 And then I would be :smack: as I have recently ixnayed all the baby gear and stuff. And then I’d be ---------------------\> :eek: diapers and I would shell out the cash for cloth diapers… But, overall, very happy. I luffs kids. Most importantly, I would call dibs on naming the next one. ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/88 "2005-07-01T19:27:56Z")
I’d be delighted, though I can’t speak for **Crusoe** - he wants to wait a few more years. In terms of circumstances, it wouldn’t be ideal - we’re only renting a one-bedroomed flat, we want to do more travelling, we both have careers - but we’d be ok financially, and my company has an excellent maternity package. Having said that, even if all the above wasn’t the case, I’d still keep it. While I support 100% a woman’s right to chose, it wouldn’t be for me. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/89 "2005-07-01T19:56:00Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > \ > 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. > \ Why “more severely”? Just curious / nosy (I know there are increased risks of sibs being on the spectrum, hadn’t heard the “more severe” linkage though). \ Tough question. First thing I’d do is faint from the shock. When I came to, I’d have to do some serious thinking about how to explain to my spouse that his tubes somehow came untied (or how I managed to find the time and energy to have an affair… ). I also have an autistic child, and another one with social / emotional issues, so I’m thinking that my spouse and I are not such good candidates for reproducing further. The pregnancy complications I had last time around (pre-eclampsia), and the severe sleep disorder I have now, wouldn’t exactly improve my mood. Whether I’d take that to the next logical step, and abort, is a BIG question - I’m a lapsed Catholic and as such abortion would not be an easy decision even though I’m strongly pro-choice. Given my track record, however (50% miscarriage rate) it’s not terribly likely that things would go far enough for me to have to make a decision. But abortion would have to be something to consider as perhaps the best thing for the family, though I don’t know how I’d live with myself afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/90 "2005-07-01T20:33:28Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > Yeah, things change though. Yep, true enough. My husband and I have been married for nearly 8 years, and neither of us **wants** to be a parent, at this point. When we got married, he said he’d really like one child but was fine with my promise to be open-minded about the possibility of being a parent down the road. Turns out he’s the one who changed their mind, not me. We both acknowledge we’d be horrible parents. We just discussed this recently, so I know what his feelings are on the subject currently. I’d tell him that something went wrong and I got pregnant, and then that I was going to go ahead with an abortion as we’d always planned. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/91 "2005-07-01T20:37:42Z")
> [@mlerose](#): > > While she’s pro-choice, she’d probably never forgive me for aborting a grandkid. She’s always said she’d rather raise any grandkid rather than have a stranger get it (adoption) or have it be aborted. She once told me she’d disown me if I ever did egg donation, because she didn’t want a bunch of strangers raising her grandchildren. That’s pretty much what my father-in-law (and mother-in-law, I’m assuming) would be like. I married their only son. They had multiple girls before he turned up. They weren’t thrilled about our plans to not have children, though they’ve mostly quieted down about that. But if they were to ever find out that I’d (hypothetically) either adopted out or aborted a child? Hoo boy. I expect I would not get a moment’s peace until they both died, and I am absolutely not kidding about that. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/92 "2005-07-01T22:32:48Z")
Supposing I did sleep with the pretty pretty boy I lust after at work (there’s no one else I can currently imagine as a candidate for daddy, so short of Godly or alien intervention, or rape, I can’t fathom becoming pregnant another way), I’d keep the baby. I don’t really want kids, but I do like them. I’m pro life, so abortion is right out and I don’t think I’m mentally equipped to handle knowing my child was somewhere out in the world without me. I’d hope the father would be involved, but if not, it wouldn’t be the first baby raised by a single parent. After freaking out a while I’d thank my lucky stars that I’m financially stable for the first time and get health insurance pronto. In general I’d try hard to make the best of it, like I have (almost) every other time life has thrown me a curve ball. I’d just pray hard that the kid would be healthier than either of my parents are… ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/93 "2005-07-01T22:47:11Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#): > > That’s pretty much what my father-in-law (and mother-in-law, I’m assuming) would be like. I married their only son. They had multiple girls before he turned up. They weren’t thrilled about our plans to not have children, though they’ve mostly quieted down about that. But if they were to ever find out that I’d (hypothetically) either adopted out or aborted a child? Hoo boy. I expect I would not get a moment’s peace until they both died, and I am absolutely not kidding about that. You have just described my husband’s family _exactly_! Weird. Though they never bring it up anymore, I think my in-laws are still holding out hope that we’ll have kids. I just hope they understand (we’ve never discussed it) that it’s not just me who doesn’t want kids. Their son has a 50% say in the matter too. ---
**Author:** ![GillianBoardman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc79bd/32.png) [@GillianBoardman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GillianBoardman)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/94 "2005-07-01T22:53:12Z")
Logically, my head says that I’d have to have an abortion. I’m not in the position to bear a child physically or raise a child financially, and my husband isn’t emotionally. However, considering that I had a tubal ligation that hasn’t failed in 16 years, and I’ve had a uterine ablation done 5 years ago, I guess maybe I’d go right on counting on divine intervention to get my 43 yr old, overweight body through a viable pregnancy. After all if the gods are interfering so far they can just make sure to keep right on going, get the pregnancy imbedded properly in the uterus, into a lining which is supposed to be scarred but clearly no longer is, win that lottery for me, and take care of my husband’s severe depression, right? Might be worth it to see the faces of my 23, 19, & 17 year old kids from my previous marriage. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/95 "2005-07-01T23:49:55Z")
> [@C3](#): > > It’s weird, though, trying to get pregnant. All those years, you try so hard _not_ to get pregnant. It feels very reckless having sex without protection. It’s like all of a sudden, you’re told that it’s illegal to wear a seatbelt. Bizarre feeling. I second this. Once we got the go-ahead from my gyn and neurologist, we started trying a couple of months ago, and it’s weird knowing that, everytime we have sex, a kid could result, and we actually want one. In other words, it wouldn’t be a mistake - it’d be on purpose! ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/96 "2005-07-02T00:04:07Z")
Another pro-life person checking in here. I don’t have kids, don’t want kids, but if one was magically presented to me, I’d raise it. I’d love it and give it a puppy and a pony and lots of books. I’d do my best. It’s not that I don’t like kids, but babies make me nervous. I like them from about 4 and up, when they get interesting. StG ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/97 "2005-07-02T17:43:32Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > Why wait 'til Saturday? Because according to by Basal Body Temperature Chart, I should ovulate on Tuesday. So, we’re gonna have millions of spermies ready and waiting for the egg! (We did actually get a jump start on the plan yesterday morning. We both had the day off, and started it off with a smile!) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/98 "2005-07-02T18:55:12Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > You have just described my husband’s family _exactly_! Weird. Though they never bring it up anymore, I think my in-laws are still holding out hope that we’ll have kids. I just hope they understand (we’ve never discussed it) that it’s not just me who doesn’t want kids. Their son has a 50% say in the matter too. I think that’s about just where my husband’s family is, too. They haven’t said much to us about having kids even though they absolutely adore kids, and would be the happiest grandparents in the world if their son had kids as well as their daughter. I think (hope?) that they understand that their boy was part of making the decision, too. If I found out I was pregnant right now, we would probably have to abort it due to the anti-inflammatories I’ve been taking (which has one of the side effects being maternal death if pregnant :eek: ). If I got pregnant some time when I probably wouldn’t die from being pregnant, we would probably keep it and be grateful for it, even though we don’t want kids. We’re both in our late thirties, both working (mostly), we have our own house, we’re fairly stable - it would be a huge change for us, but we’d do it. ---
**Author:** ![serious\_lark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@serious\_lark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/serious_lark)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/99 "2005-07-02T19:50:46Z")
Like Mama Zappa and EJsGirl, I have an autistic child, so this would not be welcome news despite the fact that my original plans were to have two children. My husband is antiabortion, so this would cause enormous stress, but if it happened despite all our precautions we would probably carry through with the pregnancy. As my previous pregnancy was also quite difficult (nausea for 7 months plus complete placenta previa), I would not be a happy camper and **trupa** would likely be on tenterhooks the entire time with me … ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621/100 "2005-07-02T20:10:41Z")
I’d have some serious ‘splainin’ to do to my vascectomized husband! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/females-if-you-found-out-you-were-pregnant-right-now-what-would-you-do/310621.md?page=6)