“If I got pregnant, I would not live through that experience.”

Hallie Lieberman, BuzzFeed News Contributor
August 15, 2022

In 2012, Oliver, then a 19-year-old living in Missouri, found out he was pregnant. “It was really surreal for me. And I think that being trans kind of complicated that surrealness,” Oliver said. (Last names have been withheld throughout this story to protect people’s privacy.) “I didn’t really know that trans people existed, so I didn’t know why I had dysphoria. ... I just knew that anytime my body did something that was considered female, it was confusing and uncomfortable for me.”

It didn’t take Oliver long to make a decision. “It kind of felt like a life-ending situation because ... I couldn’t afford to feed myself a lot of the time. When you’re in a situation like that abortion was the definite answer,” he said. His boyfriend at the time agreed; he already had a kid and couldn’t keep up with the child support payments. Oliver was also estranged from his parents, who he says were abusive. He was struggling financially and began looking online for abortion providers, but feared he wouldn’t be able to afford the abortion. “I was too scared to ask people for help, and I was really young and just kind of stupid, honestly,” he said. He borrowed about $400 — most of it from his 15-year-old sister. “She had saved it up for Christmas [presents], which is really crazy and sad but very lifesaving and awesome at the same time.”

Continued: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hallielieberman/trans-men-abortion-rights-roe