Abortion: A Modern Choice in Iran

We were sitting in the clinic waiting. My friend and her boyfriend were sitting next to me. They were restless, but both looked calm. A few days back, after a lot of searching, we had come here and, after reaching an agreement with the female doctor, we made an appointment at her clinic. Now we were waiting for my friend’s turn. Like the other pregnant women who crowded the clinic, she would enter the examination room. Unlike the other pregnant women there, she would take steps to get rid of the baby and we would leave.

Besides my friend and me, there was one other young woman in the waiting room who did not have an extended belly. Unlike my friend, however, she was by herself. She wore a simple manteaux that came down just above the knees, a tight pair of jeans, ordinary makeup and a scarf that made me strongly suspect that she worked for a private company. She was called into an examination room and came out after about half an hour. She asked the secretary to bring her a card reader, paid the doctor’s fee and left. Then it was my friend’s turn. I felt that we had passed the first stage and in a few hours, we would begin the second stage. I had at least half an hour to review the events of the last few days.

Changing Times

It was not like this before, even a few years back. The first time I knew anyone who’d had an abortion was ten years ago. I remember that the girl had a traditional family and she was extremely afraid of them. Using the excuse of a short trip, she went to the home of a friend of ours and, after three days of injections and a lot of bleeding, the baby was aborted. After that, I was aware of many people having abortions. I remember that, in every case, the woman  searched long and hard to find a physician who would dare perform the operation. These women did not have much choice. Just four years ago, when I was writing a report on abortion and had gone to see a doctor one of my colleagues introduced me to, there were very few choices. After a while, one of my friends became pregnant and decided she needed to have an abortion. I told her not to worry; we would solve the problem. I was not, however, particularly calm myself. Thinking about a friend of mine, someone I was close to, going through this ordeal worried me very much.

A friend of mine told me about a hospital that did sonography in central Tehran. “Tell her to tell them that she feels pain in her womb and to request an ultrasound,” she advised. “It’s a simple visit and they should authorize it. Then she should tell the sonographer that she wants an abortion.” She also gave me the name of the doctor, including a physical description of the doctor. “She writes a letter to a pharmacy,” my friend explained. “The pills will cost around $80. She takes them and after a few hours, the bleeding starts. It will be over by morning.” She assured me that there was nothing to worry about; it would be simple.

From $800 to $1600

In the hospital, things went the way my friend had described it. After the ultrasound, however, we decided to see a gynecologist instead of trusting a pharmacist. The first doctor we met had performed four abortions for my friend. He was an older physician who spent half the year in the United States and the other half in Tehran, at least according to his secretary. After my friend showed him the ultrasound and told him that she did not want the baby, the doctor began preaching to her, saying that she should seriously think about what she was doing. He would take the money, he said, and do the job, but he wanted to make sure the parents were sure about the decision. My friend and her boyfriend were sure, but the doctor said that they had to take 24 hours to think about it. After that, if they were still adamant about their decision, they could contact him and he would find time outside of his scheduled hours to do the operation. I asked about the cost. “I will do the abortion in about 20 minutes while you are under anesthesia,” he said, looking at my friend. “Then you can walk out the office. The cost is $1,600. Now go and think.”

Outside his office, the doctor’s secretary gave us another option. “The doctor is old so he does not do the procedure himself,” she informed us. “His assistant does it, and he charges a lot as well. If you are sure, I can give you information about a clinic in Tajrish Square. What price did the doctor quote? ” After hearing the cost, she said that it could be done at the clinic for half the price without any trouble. “To keep her record clean,” she assured us, “they will write in her case file that she had a cyst in her womb. I am sending 50 or 60 people there each week and nobody has had any problems.”

She gave me the name of the clinic and its phone number. I thought: 50 or 60 people a week? Outside the clinic, I consider the options. I am reluctant to take my friend somewhere that I know nothing about. Through a phone call, I discover that my own gynecologist performs abortions too. I had been looking for something that was right under my nose.

The next day we went to my gynecologist’s office. We described the situation and everything moved forward. The doctor said that she would normally charge $1000 and described each stage. She described her method and said that she would supervise everything herself. She said that she would give us her mobile number so that we could call her at any time, day or night. There would be a few visits and then a sonography session. She prescribed iron pills and other medical necessities. She then gave us a $200 discount and made an appointment for two days later.

So Easy, Yet So Difficult

On the surface, everything ran smoothly. The pain was to start little by little. The doctor had explained that the pills would send a deceptive message to the womb and after a few hours of pain and bleeding, the baby would be “discharged”.

It was very easy for me as a close observer, but it was painful for my friend. When we were leaving, we paid $800 with a swipe of a card. Outside, my friend told me that the doctor inserted the pills vaginally. She had been afraid but the doctor had assured her that the procedure would be safe, if painful. The doctor also told her that the girl who had the appointment before her had come for an abortion too.

That night, my friend was wide awake and in pain until the morning. All night I was thinking that the other girl was also going through the same experience. I thought about how it was no longer like the old days. Now you can tell your friends that you are late with your period and they will support you. One friend will give you the use of her house to recuperate, another will share stories about people she has known in similar circumstances, another would offer some of her savings to help pay for the abortion. There are many doctors in Tehran who will perform abortions and the prices vary. The more money you have, the easier you can leave your unwanted pregnancy behind. I thought of those 50 or 60 women a week, of the girl that went before my friend, of the estimated 250,000 women in Iran who we know have had an abortion – and of the large, unknown number of women we have been told have had a cyst removed from their wombs.