Abstract
This paper is a self-reflective account of my experience of receiving a diagnosis of a fatal foetal anomaly in pregnancy in Ireland. It re-tells my story within the context of my memories of abortion in Ireland during the years 1992 to 2015. Placing my memories within a specific historical and social frame, this paper outlines how abortion was positioned in Ireland during these periods and reflects on how this positioning of abortion impacted upon my pregnancy. It further analyses the role that story-telling and personal experience played in the campaign to repeal the 8th Amendment and questions how these stories were treated differently from other forms of knowledge and epistemology.
Highlights
We were told how tragic it was for them to have to go to England for an abortion, and that they had to use a courier to bring their baby’s body back for burial
A known anti-abortion zealot, his views, founded in the Roman Catholic dogma rather than lived experience, were given a national platform (Mullen, 2016). While this statement is grossly offensive and callous in the extreme, it represents nothing of the lived experiences of women and families who, as he states, ‘had to go to England for an abortion.’
We spent one night in the hospital together, in a special room with a nursery for families like us who travelled from Ireland to Liverpool Women’s Hospital after learning that our baby would never be born alive as she was diagnosed with a fatal foetal abnormality
Summary
We were told how tragic it was for them to have to go to England for an abortion, and that they had to use a courier to bring their baby’s body back for burial. A known anti-abortion zealot, his views, founded in the Roman Catholic dogma rather than lived experience, were given a national platform (Mullen, 2016). After returning home from Liverpool, I joined a group of women called Termination for Medical Reasons (TFMR) who had all been told that their baby would pass away at some point during their pregnancy. These women had started to share the stories of their pregnancies in their names to campaign for abortion rights in Ireland, and I decided to join them and share my story too
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