Alex's Answer

Hi there, and welcome to Ask Alex.

Thank you so much for sharing all this; you have reached out to us and that is a fantastic and brave starting point for you. 

You have said that you are 16, pregnant and that this pregnancy is the result of sexual abuse. You also mentioned and that you are worried about going for medical help as a disclosure may be made to your parents. It sounds like you have so much going on for you right now, it’s completely understandable that you are scared. 

Firstly, we are so very sorry to hear that you have experienced sexual abuse. No one has the right to hurt you in any way and you have a right to be safe. For more information on this topic, have a look at the following articles: https://www.childline.ie/what-is-abuse/; https://www.childline.ie/what-is-sexual-abuse/.   

Secondly, regarding your fear about going to a doctor for an abortion, as a 16-year-old pregnant female, you have certain medical and financial rights; you can have a look at your rights as a young person here: https://spunout.ie/life/your-rights/legal-ages-in-ireland. Furthermore, you can access services around a crisis pregnancy at www.positiveoptions.ie or text “List” for free to 5044 to access counselling services. 

Finally, you said you don’t feel that you have trusted adults in your life who you could talk to about your current circumstances, this must be very lonely for you. Remember, the Childline team are here to listen to you day and night. You can always have a further chat about all this with us by free phone: 1800 66 66 66, text: 50101 or web through www.childline.ie. This is a completely safe place where your call/chat is confidential, we won’t judge anything you say and we won’t tell you what to do. Anyone of the team would love to hear from you and chat with you about what is going on for you. 

Good luck with everything, 

Alex.