Sarah*
Sarah had been on the pill since after the birth of her sixth child. She and her husband had already decided they were having no more children and he was considering a vasectomy when Sarah became pregnant again. He had just become unemployed. Their youngest was 10 months old and they were really struggling financially. They discussed their options and agreed they could not afford to have another child. Sarah went to her GP who told her that abortion was illegal in NI and she could not have one. The GP did not give her any information or offer to refer her to another doctor. He said he would book her into maternity services. Sarah was stunned. She and her husband looked on the internet and rang a clinic in England. They were told the procedure would cost £600 and they would have to pay for their own flights and accommodation on top of that. When they checked flights the cost went up to over £1000. There was no way they could afford that. Even if Sarah travelled by herself they could still not afford it. The most they could scrape together was £200. They did not know what to do. They rang the clinic again and explained their circumstances and the clinic suggested they contact a support organisation. This provided some support but Sarah and her husband had to wait another two weeks and sold some items of furniture and some of their children toys to get the rest of the money. Sarah travelled alone to England and came back the same day contrary to the advice of the doctor at the clinic. She couldn't afford the overnight stay. Sarah wanted to have her abortion in NI, with her husband by her side, in a local hospital, without having to sell her children’s toys to pay for her operation.
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