Ocean Vuong refers to his mother’s abortion as a “lost child” in his memoir On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. Vuong describes the sharp, fresh grief his mother felt- even decades later. I came across this story two years and one day after my first abortion. It gave me new permission to feel the inexplicable loss. As I was reading this narrative, I automatically put the book down. A tightness in my chest formed- pain that was dulled by time and suppressed by shame rushed back. It was the first abortion story in which I recognized myself.
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