http://www.knowmoresaymore.org/2010/01/study-reproductive-coercion/ This project, this website, is about telling our stories, finding a common language, sharing the truth. Read about women with stories to tell, and tell yours. Learn about the reproductive health consequences of violence and sexual coercion. Know more about how to stop it. Say more to anyone and everyone who will listen. Tue, 25 Jan 2011 23:01:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 http://www.knowmoresaymore.org/2010/01/study-reproductive-coercion/comment-page-1/#comment-11678 anonymous Thu, 01 Apr 2010 02:17:23 +0000 http://www.knowmoresaymore.org/?p=323#comment-11678 i'm seventeen, and i'm about fourteen weeks pregnant...my boyfriend never messed with my birth control pills, but he would always tell me not to take them, and get angry when he would find out i was taking them...he kept saying he wanted to have a baby, and everytime he found out i was taking my pills, we would argue and fight...is this a form of reproductive coercion? i’m seventeen, and i’m about fourteen weeks pregnant…my boyfriend never messed with my birth control pills, but he would always tell me not to take them, and get angry when he would find out i was taking them…he kept saying he wanted to have a baby, and everytime he found out i was taking my pills, we would argue and fight…is this a form of reproductive coercion?

]]> http://www.knowmoresaymore.org/2010/01/study-reproductive-coercion/comment-page-1/#comment-9830 Lisa Warmbrodt Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:56:43 +0000 http://www.knowmoresaymore.org/?p=323#comment-9830 This is not an easy subject to talk about. In a way it makes one feel that the resulting children were unwanted, and in my case, that isn't so. But I didn't get pregnant willingly; my partner was extremely abusive and controlling. He beat me during my first pregnancy and I miscarried. I went on the pill, but when things got shaky again between he and I, he began hiding or destroying my pills. I got pregnant, and had a daughter. I left him, but after five years he found me and we attempted to reconcile. I had been using (successfully) a diaphragm at the time. Within three months I was pregnant. I checked the diaphragm after I found out, and it had numerous little pin holes in it. Things got bad again, and shortly after my son was born, I left. Something that I think needs to be addressed is that often women will have what seems to be consensual sex with their abuser shortly before they leave; this is an attempt to pacify him, to make him think everything is all right and give her the opportunity to make her getaway. It happened to me; two weeks after I left, I found I was pregnant again. My children's father paid no child support, because I lived in fear he would find me. I think this issue, and that of child visitation in domestic violence situations, are two policies that need to be changed. Child support in these cases should be handled federally, so that the woman cannot be traced to the state in which she lives. Furthermore, I don't think that a man who beats his partner should be allowed visitation; I know in my case my partner was willing to hurt my children when he no longer had access to hurt me directly. I hope this information can help someone in some way. This is not an easy subject to talk about. In a way it makes one feel that the resulting children were unwanted, and in my case, that isn’t so. But I didn’t get pregnant willingly; my partner was extremely abusive and controlling. He beat me during my first pregnancy and I miscarried. I went on the pill, but when things got shaky again between he and I, he began hiding or destroying my pills. I got pregnant, and had a daughter. I left him, but after five years he found me and we attempted to reconcile. I had been using (successfully) a diaphragm at the time. Within three months I was pregnant. I checked the diaphragm after I found out, and it had numerous little pin holes in it. Things got bad again, and shortly after my son was born, I left. Something that I think needs to be addressed is that often women will have what seems to be consensual sex with their abuser shortly before they leave; this is an attempt to pacify him, to make him think everything is all right and give her the opportunity to make her getaway. It happened to me; two weeks after I left, I found I was pregnant again. My children’s father paid no child support, because I lived in fear he would find me. I think this issue, and that of child visitation in domestic violence situations, are two policies that need to be changed. Child support in these cases should be handled federally, so that the woman cannot be traced to the state in which she lives. Furthermore, I don’t think that a man who beats his partner should be allowed visitation; I know in my case my partner was willing to hurt my children when he no longer had access to hurt me directly. I hope this information can help someone in some way.

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