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Chelsea Handler Opens Up About Having 2 Abortions at Age 16 in New Essay

Chelsea Handler Opens Up About Having 2 Abortions at Age 16 in New Essay

Chelsea Handler wrote an essay for Playboy where she opened up about having two abortions in the same year, at age 16.

“I was going through a very bad stage in my life. I hated my parents and I was having unprotected sex with my boyfriend, who was not someone I should’ve been having sex with in the first place, never mind unprotected sex. I wasn’t really playing with a full deck of cards, and when I got pregnant I just thought, Why not? I can have a baby. Maybe I’ll have twins and give them rhyming names! Of course, the idea that I would have a child and raise it by myself at that age, when I couldn’t even find my way home at night, was ridiculous,” the 41-year-old talk show host wrote. “My parents recognized that, so they acted like parents for one of the very first times in my life and took me to Planned Parenthood. I felt parented, ironically, while I was getting an abortion. And when it was over, I was relieved in every possible way.”

“Getting unintentionally pregnant more than once is irresponsible, but it’s still necessary to make a thoughtful decision. We all make mistakes all the time. I happened to f–k up twice at the age of 16. I’m grateful that I came to my senses and was able to get an abortion legally without risking my health or bankrupting myself or my family. I’m 41 now. I don’t ever look back and think, God, I wish I’d had that baby,” she continued. Read Chelsea‘s entire essay over at Playboy.

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Posted to: Chelsea Handler