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In June 2020, just when the lockdown regulations were wearing off in most parts of the country, Sandra discovered she was pregnant. The 21-year-old remembered feeling shocked as she had taken a post-pill the day after she had sex with her ex-partner. She also understood, being in her early twenties, still in school and living with her single mother, that she couldn’t keep the pregnancy.
“The day I found out was the day I took it out,” Sandra tells Zikoko. “ I think the stressful part was finding a place to get it done. My ex suggested someone who was going to give me something to drink but the idea didn’t go down well with me. Then I remembered a friend in my hostel whose friend had gotten an abortion, and she connected me with a doctor in Benin. Luckily for me, the doctor was nice. He actually said his goal is to destigmatise abortion, so he put me through the two types (medical and vacuum) and I opted for the surgical process. The process lasted lik