POST-ABORTION INFO The following questions may be helpful in evaluating your emotional and spiritual condition regarding the effects of your past abortion experience. These questions are not meant to diagnose problems affiliated with a past abortion. They are to be used to help you see if you should consider seeking further counseling. Is it difficult for you to be around people when the subject of abortion is brought up in a group or with another person? Do you feel yourself unable to escape thoughts of the aborted child (or children) or even the events surrounding the past abortion(s)? Do you repeatedly have thoughts of "I wonder what the baby(ies) would have looked like." Or "I wonder if they were boys or girls." Or "My baby would have been six this year." Then try to escape the thoughts due to the sadness they may produce? When you talk about your abortion(s), do any of the following emotions surface: Shame, Anger, Sorrow, Numbness, etc.? Do you have dreams or constant recollection of the abortion event with or without its surrounding emotions? Do you try to tell yourself over and over again to just forget about it? Do you have fears of infertility because of the abortion(s)? Or, do you blame yourself for miscarriages because of your abortion(s)? Do you battle with self-destructive patterns, i.e.: alcoholism, drugs (including overuse of medications), bulimia, anorexia, obesity, suicidal thoughts or tendencies, compulsive spending, etc.? These could be related to your abortion experience. Are your abortion(s) deliberately kept a secret from significant relationships in your life? I.e.: spouse, parents, pastor, friends, fellow church friends, etc. Do you find yourself avoiding materials that mention the topic of abortion? Do you struggle with depression and/or anxiety that is prolonged and seemingly unavoidable? Do these emotions occur more frequently during or around the anniversary date of your abortion(s)? Are you unable to forgive those who were connected with your abortion decision(s)? Does the memory of your past abortion experience still create a painful emotion, either outwardly or inwardly? Are you unable to experience the full forgiveness of God? Or do thoughts of your abortion still condemn you? If you have answered "yes" to any of these questions, please consider joining other women like yourself in a six week support group. Or, if you would like to speak with someone who can understand from a personal perspective many of the emotions and thoughts you are experiencing in relation to your past abortion experience, please call us at: Fairfax: (703) 278-5433 Alexandria: (703) 780-4700

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