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AIBU?

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Abandoned at 6 weeks pregnant - AIBU to shut down?

418 replies

NattyEagle · 24/09/2026 14:04

I cannot believe I am typing this but my now ex “partner”of 2 years has given me an ultimatum. Have an abortion and we carry on as a couple, or keep the pregnancy and I will never see his face again. As soon as he said this, we were done!

His initial reaction was apprehensive - I thought it was fair. But I NEVER would have imagined hed do a runner. When I first told him I was pregnant he made it clear that he wasn’t going anywhere - it just wasn't the best time. 3 days later he gave the ultimatum. He was as cold as ice.

He’s being manipulative and saying “don’t let any man tell you what to do, if you want to keep it, that’s fine, but I will not be there”. He had a truth dump and admitted to being a terrible father to his other two kids, beating them, being abusive, and basically not enjoying fatherhood. He loves them “sometimes” but cannot stand the responsibility. The entire time we were together I never met his kids but he claimed to be father of the year, pretending to see them and be with them.

I’ve cut contact with him and blocked him yesterday!

Hes ruined this. He was the one who told me not to take the morning after pill! We agreed we would see what would happen regarding family planning and a baby. Hed go up and down but always maintained it woild be a good thing.

i had a bad feeling that I’ve misjudged who this man is and contacted his ex who I have never spoken to.

she was an Angel and told me he has not seen his other two kids properly in two years due to social services intervention because he badly best their 9 year old. On top of that he was just a terrible terrible partner that financially abused her and beat her. He wouldn’t turn up to visits, ignore them for months at a time. No birthday cards….nothing. He also refused to divorce her and she had to get it done via court order. He told me they were divorced 3 weeks into us dating. The amount of lies exposed in our conversation was something out of a Netflix documentary. He told me she was a housewive….turns out she had 3 jobs while he paid for nothing. When her son was a baby she came home and he had bitten him! Hes a stranger. A stranger. I’m broken.

I basically have been with a compulsive liar and sociopath who saw our relationship as a bit of fun. I ignored a lot of red flags because I’m 34 abojt to turn 35 in December and I’m scared. I’m kicking myself for letting my loneliness consume me.

I don’t want to be pregnant anymore but already had a termination at 31 and cannot bring myself to take the pills. I feel no connection to the pregnancy anymore because of him, and am scared I’m romanticising motherhood out of fear of it not happening for me.

you know how some woman say “F U, I’m keeping it!”. That’s not me! It sounds horrible but I’d love to just have a miscarriage to take the choice out of my hands. I have no desire to be a single mother or raise the child of a compulsive liar. I don’t think I can love this child and heal from his lies. I’m also petrified this is my last chance to be a mum. I guess I’m clinging on to being pregnant - I felt so special and giddy in those short three days before my world was turned upside down.

please give advice and be soft with me. I want to be a mum but not like this. The abortion just feels….wrong. I’m 34 about to be 35. What if I never meet anyone? What if I do but we can’t get pregnant. The abortion I had at 31 was a massive massive relief. This feels like the hardest thing ever. I see no good outcome. Children abandoned by a parent seem to have a lot of trauma no matter how big the village.

my head is saying get rid of it and feel horrible because you deserve to. Deep down inside you knew who this man was and you played with fire because you were desperate. If you don’t have kids after this - that’s the way the cookie crumbles. The other side of my head is saying that I’m just grieving a massive loss and I will forgive him, come to peace with this, and love my child.

please give it to me straight and share your experiences because my brain is fried. I’m 5 weeks + 4

OP posts:
Cla7 · 25/09/2026 09:24

This is not something I’d usually suggest, but given that he is abusive and violent, can you tell him that you’ve aborted, then move away and have the baby on your own? You can’t risk this man getting access to your baby, but if you feel you can’t abort either and want to be a mum, then I would consider this option.

Cla7 · 25/09/2026 09:27

But also to add, I met my husband at 38 and had a baby at 41. It’s not too late for you to be a mum if you don’t continue this pregnancy.

TheSquareMile · 25/09/2026 09:42

NattyEagle · 24/09/2026 18:26

@AllezAllezPronto than you so so so much for this. Wow. You guys have no idea how this is helping me. I had a counselling session this afternoon and this is better.

@NattyEagle

Was the counselling arranged for you via your GP, OP?

Try to see one of the GPs again today or Monday.

Once this is behind you, you can work towards establishing more in the way of resources, so putting yourself in a better situation when considering having children in the future.

I have in mind not only resources of a tangible kind, such as suitable housing and enough money, but also resources such as support from a future partner.

Take a deep breath and step forward confidently, knowing that you are doing the best thing by prioritising your own needs.

Millytante · 25/09/2026 10:00

cuckoolodger · 25/09/2026 08:55

Op, you keep saying you love him/loved him but the simple truth is that you didn’t even know him. He faked EVERYTHING and lied to you. You were in love with a (very shitty) illusion. You were easy to trick as you have a parent wound inside you that’s desperate to be filled up with love. I get it, I’ve been there myself and spent most of my life in therapy.But I’ll let you into a secret… nobody else can fill that gaping wound apart from you. You need to be gentle with yourself, you need to call your local mental health crisis team and get the support you need to do the right thing. Or be strong and see those pills as the very symbolic step of eradicating him from your life. Those pills cut the string that holds you together.

realistically a baby will make your life ten times harder and you will be even more unhappy. All you will do is compound your current mental health issues and multiply them and add another burden onto you and that burden could well turn out to be severely autistic and need 24 hour care for life.

invest in YOU. Get short term medical mental health intervention and long term therapy . Tell yourself every day that you are worth more. Go on a journey of self discovery and start a hobby that fills your heart with joy and gives you some self esteem. Build a decent foundation and create a happy fulfilled life. THAT is proper fertility, cultivating your own happy little garden and watching it bloom with a smile on your face. It’s not peeing on a stick and giving birth. There are plenty and plenty of shit parents out there as you know first hand. Don’t swell their ranks. Get your therapy, stand straight and proud and only when you are happy on your own and with your own company should you have a baby. I’m not saying don’t be in a relationship in time, I’m saying that ANY relationship can fail or end no matter how good, life happens. And single parent hood is hard even when you are mentally stable. Never mind when you are trauma bonded to the monster that’s made your life hell. Children need routine and peace and love, not drama addiction, abuse, physical violence and an emotional waste ground.

i really hope you come through this and make the right choice.

Such wise and compassionate advice. This is what you need, OP.
It’s kindness to you, who are in need of it, and kindness to a potential child, too.

As was pointed out, this pregnancy wasn’t planned at all, so you lose nothing by terminating it, in terms of any particular plans you had for the immediate future.(That brief welling up of euphoria can be ascribed to any number of very obvious reasons, none of which was the Universe telling you this was its plan for you!)

TwinklyAmberSloth · 25/09/2026 10:13

NattyEagle · 24/09/2026 21:22

How are you guys so sure that this can have no silver lining? Have any of you kept kids in these circumstances or is your privilege from being married and never meeting a man like this telling me to have a termination because you cannot imagine being in my shoes? If you can’t imagine being in my shoes, how do you know the right thing either way? I know it’s right to terminate but is the part of me that doesnt want to genuinely delusional? If you have not met or suffered a man like this, how do you actually know you would terminate?

A friend of mine dated arseholes (always seemed lovely at first!) and had an abortion at age 36 under similar very circumstances - the guy first accused her of sleeping around and said it must be someone else's, and then started showing his true colours. She didn't want to bring a baby into the world that was a part of someone so nasty, even though she was worried about never having a baby.

After that she took some time to learn to love herself. Did things that made her happy.

She met her current (and genuinely super lovely) DH at 42, and they have a DD.

You need to remember that this baby shares genetics with someone who is not a nice person, and who already has a violent child with ASD/ADHD. You will have a life long connection with this violent person. I appreciate they have abandoned their current children, but you would need to be prepared if this man decided he wanted to be part of the baby's life and want regular access.

There is no shame in terminating a pregnancy.

Sotiredimightreallydie · 25/09/2026 10:18

In think an effort to be kind, some people aren't being very fair here.

What's important is that the OP makes the choice that is right for her, but most importantly, that it is her choice.

Laying it on thick about how the baby might be like his dad and attack her, how those tainted genes shouldn't be allowed to continue etc, are quite horrid. Being the child of a monster does not make someone a monster. If the OP was seven months pregnant instead, she'd be be reassured of that one here.

Yes objectively the simplest thing to do is to regulate. But life's not that simple and emotions aren't that simple.

I think the best way for the op to make the decision that is right for her, whatever that is, is for her to give herself a week. Let some of the emotions settle, have time to think. It'll still be very early, but I don't think the op is in the right frame of mind to make any decisions now.

Pushing her into terminating, scaremongering about the personality of the child are just as bad as trying to force her to continue the pregnancy, albeit I know they come from good intentions.

PollyBell · 25/09/2026 10:27

Do you really want to give this poor chils that specimen as a father? What is best for the child do that

GingerBeverage · 25/09/2026 10:33

Well there are lots of variables but there does seem to be a genetic (inheritable) factor to childhood aggression, from what I can make out here.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11167064/

While half of the variance in childhood aggression is attributed to genetic factors, the biological mechanism and the interplay between genes and environment that results in aggression remains elusive.

The paper does conclude with the need for more studies on the subject.

Of course OP needs to make the right decision for her, but who can tell what ‘right’ is now, and in the future. Everyone makes mistakes in life, and holds regrets.

I think OP has been very brave in opening up here, whatever decision she comes to.

AllezAllezPronto · 25/09/2026 10:51

Sotiredimightreallydie · 25/09/2026 10:18

In think an effort to be kind, some people aren't being very fair here.

What's important is that the OP makes the choice that is right for her, but most importantly, that it is her choice.

Laying it on thick about how the baby might be like his dad and attack her, how those tainted genes shouldn't be allowed to continue etc, are quite horrid. Being the child of a monster does not make someone a monster. If the OP was seven months pregnant instead, she'd be be reassured of that one here.

Yes objectively the simplest thing to do is to regulate. But life's not that simple and emotions aren't that simple.

I think the best way for the op to make the decision that is right for her, whatever that is, is for her to give herself a week. Let some of the emotions settle, have time to think. It'll still be very early, but I don't think the op is in the right frame of mind to make any decisions now.

Pushing her into terminating, scaremongering about the personality of the child are just as bad as trying to force her to continue the pregnancy, albeit I know they come from good intentions.

@sotiredimightreallydie It's important to know that many ND conditions like autism and ADHD do have a strong genetic factor and associated conditions are known to be linked to a specific gene that is carried on the male chromosome.
So it is relevant to mention this.

theruffles · 25/09/2026 11:01

I'm sorry, what an awful situation. Glad that you know the truth of who he is and that you've removed him from your life.

You have time and should take it to consider if ending the pregnancy is what you want. I'd speak to a therapist if you can (or see about a referral from your doctor) to try and make sense of some of the feelings. If you decide that having this child isn't the right decision for you, there's nothing to say you can't look at welcoming a child into your life at another point in the future under less stressful circumstances. I'm not trying to be flippant by saying that, but if you think that you couldn't love this child properly because of who their father is, perhaps it's kinder to both yourself and them to not go through with the pregnancy.

EveryoneUsingOutro · 25/09/2026 11:05

Thundertoast · 24/09/2026 14:11

I am so sorry you are in this position.
My concern is that if he changed his mind, he might end up with access to your child. By having this baby, you would be putting a child in the hands of an abuser. Im really sorry.

This would be my concern. I couldn’t live with the stress of being tied to such a horrible person for the rest of my life and wondering if he was going to pop up and demand to see the child. That child is at risk, permanently. He already admitted to beating his previous children - I couldn’t put another through that.
I would have to terminate. He doesn’t deserve to father/sperm donate any more.

Beachtastic · 25/09/2026 11:05

NattyEagle · 24/09/2026 21:06

I’ve become obsessed with becoming a mum, I’m just grieving that. I’ll take the pills.

Horrible, horrible situation OP.

Apart from the fact that having his child would link you for ever to him, whether you see him or not, I'd be worried about the possible genetic inheritance of psychopathic tendencies from this monster.

You're still young. It might not feel like it, but your future self will thank you for getting yourself out of this.

Sotiredimightreallydie · 25/09/2026 11:10

AllezAllezPronto · 25/09/2026 10:51

@sotiredimightreallydie It's important to know that many ND conditions like autism and ADHD do have a strong genetic factor and associated conditions are known to be linked to a specific gene that is carried on the male chromosome.
So it is relevant to mention this.

But to say that the person's genes shouldn't be allowed to continue and that the child will probably attack the mother?

Absolutely there is an inherited element to ADHD, but most people with ADHD do not become violent, myself and my child included.

To assume the child will be violent based on purely his genes is horrid, and it's manipulative.

Since when did 'pro choice' mean using manipulation to persuade someone to abort? They're would be an uproar if it was the other way round.

Why can't we just support the op to make the decision that's right for her, target than trying to manipulate our guilt trip her into anything. It's perfectly fine if she chooses to abort, but it's perfectly fine if she wishes to continue as well. That's what choice means.

x2boys · 25/09/2026 11:35

AllezAllezPronto · 25/09/2026 10:51

@sotiredimightreallydie It's important to know that many ND conditions like autism and ADHD do have a strong genetic factor and associated conditions are known to be linked to a specific gene that is carried on the male chromosome.
So it is relevant to mention this.

Genetic doesnt always mean inherited

EveryoneUsingOutro · 25/09/2026 11:41

NattyEagle · 24/09/2026 17:26

@BeRoseSloth is this a thing? My dad has horrible mental health issues and me and my 3 siblings really struggle with ours! His son is really violent and medicated now. His ex says her son being autistic clearly comes from him. I’m scared the voice In my head telling it’s gonna be okay is the same messed up voice telling me to stay with him! To ignore his lies! To get pregnant in the first place!

Of course it’s a thing, autism has a huge genetic component and so do many other mental health issues (tendency towards depression or addictive personality traits etc).

AvidHazelFox · 25/09/2026 12:02

Op, if you kept the baby he'd be back on the scene again and intentionally cause trouble for you both for years to come. Abusers love to create and cause problems, especially in this sort of dynamic. As you've said, he hates you and he'll hate the baby too and will revel in making your lives hell. I wish you well and well done for getting rid of him.

EveryoneUsingOutro · 25/09/2026 12:03

CarelessSquid07A · 24/09/2026 18:57

It won't be ok. You're not well enough to have a child.

My mother had me because she was lonely and it meant I looked after her from age 4 onwards. She's now lonely again because I won't put up with her lack of boundaries. Dad was never around because she said he wasn't a safe person just like your partner.

Get yourself healthy, address your mental health and then go for it. You can always bank some eggs now to help later if you're really worried about that.

Having read OP updates, I tend to agree. Children are all consuming especially at first and I don’t think the OP is in the right place to be a (single, without support) mother right now. There’s a lot of healing and therapy to be done OP. Then you can think about it when you are stronger and more stable.

EveryoneUsingOutro · 25/09/2026 12:04

pinkyredrose · 24/09/2026 19:01

My life is SHIT because of a broken woman and a broken man had me and my 3 siblings thinking “wanting a child” was enough of a reason to have one

In the gentlest possible way - you are now in the same position your parents were. What does that tell you?

Exactly.

StarPyjamas · 25/09/2026 12:08

I think some people have missed the OP saying she doesn't think she could love the baby anyway.

"I don’t think the product of such evil could be something I loved."

Sotiredimightreallydie · 25/09/2026 12:20

StarPyjamas · 25/09/2026 12:08

I think some people have missed the OP saying she doesn't think she could love the baby anyway.

"I don’t think the product of such evil could be something I loved."

No, but I think you (and many others) may have missed this

I paid for a private clinic the day after he gave me the ultimatum. I also had a scan at the abortion clinic because at this point I had not spoken to his ex! I was delusional and thiught he was just freaking out! There was no heartbeat but a saw the tinnnnnnnyyyyy Little thing in my uterine cavity. I won’t lie and say I burst into tears overwhelmed with love and connection but it’s made this harder for sure.

Overwhelmed by love and connection. Obviously that's contradictory to other things she said, but that's because this is all very new and she is in hell right now, and has so many emotions floating around. She needs quiet space not pressure.

I don't think the op should have an abortion right now
I don't think the op should decide to have a baby right now.
I think sure should sleep on it for a week, no more because she'd said she's got strict limits on how far she'd be prepared to be, so we need to respect that. But she's early and can certainly give herself a week, so that whatever decision she makes is with a clear mind.

But people are pushing, pushing, pushing here. There's no support either way, it's pressure, and that's something the op has got more than enough of.

EveryoneUsingOutro · 25/09/2026 12:21

ChapmanFarm · 24/09/2026 20:21

You've talked a lot about feeling embarrassed by taking the pills.

Do you want to tell us why you feel like that?

Because to just about everyone here, it would be the braver and more selfless option. It doesn't make you a bad person if you decide to do it, it makes you one who has considered things beyond her own feelings.

Unfortunately the end of everything you wanted is tied emotionally to this. You are grieving what you wanted but that was never real. Be kind to yourself because it being a mirage doesn't lessen your grief at it no longer being here.

I think you will feel devastated afterwards but not because you made a bad decision but because it really does signify the end of this relationship. While you are pregnant there will always be a thread and however much you know it's right, it won't stop it being hard.

Perceptive post.

Having the abortion IS the strong thing to do OP.

EveryoneUsingOutro · 25/09/2026 12:25

Beboo101 · 24/09/2026 20:31

Being a mum can have lots of challenging moments but it's also wonderful. My children are my favourite people in the world and my best memories involve them.
If you want to be a mum this can be your chance. If you don't want that man to be a part of your life anymore then you can cut him out of your life.
Do you have people that can help you with your child. Would your mum be able to babysit sometime?
Im lucky that I have a husband to help me but I also know people who are single mums that love their children and have no regrets with keeping their children.

Oh get real. The OP’s situation is nothing like this.

AllezAllezPronto · 25/09/2026 12:27

In this case, the topic under discussion, some ND is inherited.

AllezAllezPronto · 25/09/2026 12:30

Sotiredimightreallydie · 25/09/2026 11:10

But to say that the person's genes shouldn't be allowed to continue and that the child will probably attack the mother?

Absolutely there is an inherited element to ADHD, but most people with ADHD do not become violent, myself and my child included.

To assume the child will be violent based on purely his genes is horrid, and it's manipulative.

Since when did 'pro choice' mean using manipulation to persuade someone to abort? They're would be an uproar if it was the other way round.

Why can't we just support the op to make the decision that's right for her, target than trying to manipulate our guilt trip her into anything. It's perfectly fine if she chooses to abort, but it's perfectly fine if she wishes to continue as well. That's what choice means.

Oh I knew someone would pop along with this.

Maybe step back a bit. For a start, my posts didn't say anything about violence. I commented that some ND can be genetic and inherited. I studied this at uni 30 years ago when inheritance/genes were being researched.

EveryoneUsingOutro · 25/09/2026 12:39

Flightyflora · 24/09/2026 21:19

As I said in previous message , let us virtually handhold . We want to help . I’m so sorry your friends and family are shit . I’ve no family because mine were . This isn’t just about the abortion , you need therapy to look at valuing yourself and seeing your worth . It seems although you have found out some really vile stuff about him , he drove you to being suicidal . You need therapy to look at why you accepted that and to find ways to know your worth and not repeat .

I hope you can take some strength from the number of posters here, including me, who are willing you on to a better, healed life OP.

You deserve to find self respect and love for yourself first and then, if you want, progress your life on to major things like a healthy relationship/starting a family in whichever way works well for you.

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