In 2017, Anne-Laure got pregnant while on contraception. The young woman had indeed had an IUD inserted a few years earlier. She tells us.
When contraception fails in its mission. In France, the pill is the contraceptive most requested by women, according to figures from Public Health France. But for those who do not want it, there are other methods of contraception to protect themselves, such as the IUD. This device, implanted in the uterus, is also considered to be more reliable than the pill. However, it happens that some women on IUDs still get pregnant. This is particularly the case of Anne-Laure, a young thirty-something living in New York. In 2017, she had a surprise pregnancy with an IUD, followed by an abortion. She tells us her story.
“I was fitted with an IUD in March 2010, it was my first IUD. I was 24. I had to fight to get it asked because I hadn't had children before and some gynecologists were reluctant. But I couldn't stand the pill and didn't want hormonal contraception. So I was put on a copper IUD and my gynecologist told me it was good for five to ten years, but there was no real date for such an IUD.
I loved the IUD even though I had a painful period. In 2017, I met someone. A few weeks later, I had a late period. I thought it was weird so I took a pregnancy test which turned out to be positive. I was pregnant.
Since my period delay was recent, I thought I was two weeks pregnant. But when I did the blood test, I was told I was seven weeks pregnant. No one could explain to me if it was because of the IUD or why I got pregnant, knowing that I got pregnant two days before my previous period.
A difficult decision
I didn’t know if I was going to babysit the child because I had just started a relationship. The health professionals suggested that I remove the IUD, but they warned me that removing this contraceptive could cause a miscarriage. Since I hadn't made up my mind yet and there was a small part of me that would love to keep it, I told them to take it off and we would see. If I didn't miscarry, I still had some time to make up my mind.
In the end, I did not have a miscarriage, but still decided to have an abortion. It was complicated, this pregnancy was not planned and my partner did not want to keep it … even though I on the one hand wanted to. I saw it as a little miracle of life seeing as it was a surprise. Today I am still with the same man and I am pregnant. We waited a while before we were really ready. If I had known we would stay together for so long I might have insisted on continuing my pregnancy in 2017. It’s a big regret but this is life and we cannot go back.
After this abortion, they gave me an IUD. I continued with this contraception despite this surprise pregnancy because it suits me. I don't know if it was because of the condition of the IUD that I got pregnant or if it was because I am very fertile. I had previously had an unwanted pregnancy on the pill.
Better inform women
I find that in France we are not very well informed about the different contraceptives and about the complications and risks of pregnancy associated with contraception. We have to find out for ourselves. For my part, it was my mother who told me about the IUD, not a gynecologist, and I did my own research alongside it. In fact it's there, in nature, and it's up to us to fend for ourselves.”
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