Northern Ireland

Yvonne Morgan: 'I am so glad abortion was illegal when I had an unplanned pregnancy'

Mother-of-four Yvonne Morgan (38), from Warrenpoint, Co Down. Picture by Mal McCann
Mother-of-four Yvonne Morgan (38), from Warrenpoint, Co Down. Picture by Mal McCann Mother-of-four Yvonne Morgan (38), from Warrenpoint, Co Down. Picture by Mal McCann

YVONNE Morgan was in hospital preparing to be sterilised when she found out she was pregnant in July 2016.

The 38-year-old, from Warrenpoint in Co Down, was sharing a bedroom in her mother's house with her two young boys, Morgan and Luke, after her marital home was sold following a divorce.

She said she was just "getting back on my feet" when she fell pregnant.

"I had decided that I didn't want any more children," she said.

"Then on the morning of the operation I found out I was pregnant. I nearly had a heart attack. The operation had to be cancelled."

The healthcare worker said she "cried my eyes out" when she learned of the pregnancy.

"I was thinking: 'How am I going to house my children let alone bring another baby into my mother's house, into my brother's bedroom, with me and my children sharing a bed?'

"It scared the living daylights out of me."

She added: "I didn't know what I was going to do so I panicked and that's why I thought: 'I need an abortion; I can't cope with this; I don't even have a roof over my head'."

Ms Morgan said she was even more concerned when she later discovered she was expecting twins.

"I thought I was having one wee baby. When they told me it was two I was shell-shocked."

On the day she discovered she was pregnant, she made an appointment with the Family Planning Association in Belfast.

A friend also put her in touch with anti-abortion group Precious Life.

After a conversation with two workers for the group, including founder Bernadette Smyth, she finally decided not to have a termination.

"They reassured me," she said. "Everything that I was panicking about they could help me with. It wasn't the end of the world even though it seemed like that."

Ms Morgan said she was not in a serious relationship with her twin daughters' father and feared she could not cope financially or emotionally with the pregnancy.

"We're not together at all but he's in the girls' lives and I have a good relationship with him," she said.

During the pregnancy, she suffered severe morning sickness.

"Being a single mummy, working and raising my two boys was hard," she said.

She later gave birth to girls Eden and Erin, now two years and nine months.

"I am so glad that the laws were still in place when I had my crisis moment, my unplanned pregnancy," she said.

"I am thankful there were no abortion clinics here because the state I was in I would have been inside one."

Ms Morgan said she believed that abortion was "taking a life".

"I grew up in a Christian family so I believe that all life is sacred and none of it has the right to take it," she said.

"But I am not judging anyone in that situation. I know how panicked I was whenever I got pregnant with my wee girls.

"My wee girls are a blessing. It's hard work being a single mummy to four wee children but I thank God for them. They've brought so much joy, not just to my life but my whole family."