The Pressure We Put On ourselves
Areka Nieto is a 29 year old young professional working in non-profit. 7 years ago, she chose to have an abortion. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Areka, has become more outspoken about reproductive health rights, bodily autonomy, and sharing her personal journey publicly.
Learn more here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/areka-nieto/
Show Notes:
Areka’s abortion story on her podcast
Changing grief after abortion
“The first year was hard”
“It’s pressure you’re putting on yourself but it’s caused by what’s happening in society”
“A lot of self-questioning, self-doubt”
“It’s definitely something I dealt with internally for quite some time”
“I wasn’t using any form of birth control and that was another layer of guilt”
“It was a lot of beating myself up unfortunately”
“I tried to push it away, move on from it… at some point that comes back”
“Realizing I was allowed to grieve… without people telling me I couldn’t or shouldn’t”
Told best friend it was a miscarriage “I thought that was the better choice”
“My shame and guilt was so swirling and fully encompassing of my life”
“It goes to prove we’re a lot harder than anyone else can be”
When the way through is time “and with that time”
“Talking is the way I process”
“If you had told me I would have…” podcasted about this
“I wish back then I knew” it was possible to get here now
“It’s allowed me to live my life the way I want to live my life”
“We are building communities and sharing stories”
“There is and can be healing on the other side of this”
“I hope one day it’s a normal medical procedure”
When it’s okay to talk about all our feels we thrive
Proving that I made the right decision
“It’s so energy depleting when you’re having to that rather than focus on healing yourself and the experience you went through”
“Feeling that I had to have a child… to make up”
“What can I do to prove that my life is worth what I did”
“I can finally give myself the space and the room for feel those moments of grief”
“Finally in a space where I’m not beating myself up”
“I can finally wonder openly; outloud”
“Even though I did not have my child, I still love their spirit and their soul… I am allowed to carry them with me”
The craving to have another pregnancy to relieve the immediate discomfort
“Rectify the situation in some way that will make it okay”
“The biggest piece of my identity that I has developed from this experience is my own self belief”
“Only you know you, truly deeply, and to the core”
“I know that I have the ability to overcome pretty much anything”
“You can find out how capable you are of giving yourself patience… allowing that human experience”
“You can be whole and you can live a whole life”
You’re not serving of shame and guilt, nobody is
“Show yourself as much love as you can muster”
