I am one of the least maternal people I know and I got pregnant at 19. It was not an easy decision at all to decide to keep my son, who’s almost 21 now. I have no regrets with my decision to keep him.
When I was making my decision, one factor directed me—my own innate psyche. This is one of the factors many people do NOT consider—the already-present psyche of the pregnant woman.
At that time, I was very susceptible to other peoples’ opinions and extremely anxious about being judged by anyone, even people I didn’t know. I grew up around “God is watching you!! The Devil will get you!!” messages. I was a crazy perfectionist and paranoid about mistakes. I carried guilt very heavily— it was a horrible foundational mental state to have to begin with. So…. if I had an abortion, I am pretty sure I’d eventually have committed suicide because of my own psyche. I always say my son saved my life because I had to learn to relax some after he was born.
My best friend, on the other hand, had an abortion and has no regrets or guilt at all. Her psyche could handle it. Look at your own psyche first—and yes, find a neutral supporter. My neutral person was my grandmother. Everyone else was biased.