Sibling Survivors After Abortion

As a sibling of an aborted child, you may be experiencing a deep pain. You may be remembering the times that you knew down deep inside your heart and soul that you had an older or younger brother or sister. You may have subconsciously felt a "gap" in the sibling order of your family. You may have at times seen your parents by angry, depressed, overly reactive or protective of you and always wondered why. You may have a sense of inadequacy or survivor guilt when after the fact you discovered that an abortion had been chosen by your mother or forced on her. And sometimes you remember your questioning or feelings of disappointment and perhaps anger at the fact that another family member could have been a part of your life. And sometimes you remember the deeply personal loss of your brother or sister. You might express a sense of disappointment that your parents have never discussed this with you. Sometimes you may express anger over the turn of events.

Sibling survivors after abortion often describe their experience in these terms:

• Sadness
• Anger
• Worried
• Phobias
• Grieving
• Loss of a brother or sister
• Siblings may carry the burden of feeling guilty they survived an abortion.
• "Why didn't my mother abort me? What went wrong for her during the pregnancy she aborted? Why couldn't she or dad tell me?"
• Desire to make their parents get "better" if they see them grieving or struggling
• Feelings of inadequacy in discussing abortion and its aftermath with their friends and family
• "How would my life have been different?"

We are sorry for your loss and we encourage you to begin your healing journey. By allowing yourself to grieve and heal you will be ready in the future to journey with your family as they resolve the abortion loss. If you are hurting, call 866.482.LIFE today or check out our weekend healing retreats.