My boyfriend and I recently found out that we are expecting. We’ve made sure to focus on the fact that we’re a team throughout this journey. The issue is that while I’m leaning more towards abortion, he wants us to keep the baby. Both of us are in college and live in the dorms. I’m unemployed and he (reasonably) doesn’t make enough to even provide for himself. We were planning on getting an apartment with friends since I can afford my share through scholarships and grants.

My argument towards abortion is that my father is highly aggressive and at times has been physically abusive to me and my family members. Telling him I’m pregnant could possibly trigger that aggression and I don’t want me or my mom who knows and would try to protect me to end up injured or worse. I also struggle with depression and anxiety and the stress of remaining a college student on top of clothing, feeding, and sheltering my child with little to no substantial financial support could possibly send me to an area in my mind that is troubling.

He on the other hand believes we can support ourselves enough to have the child and due to his own parents having him at a very young age (around 16) but still having a very strong and positive relationship with him and each other, he believes we have the ability to raise this child. He understands why I don’t want to go through with it but I can tell it would hurt him a lot emotionally.

I understand in the end it’s “my body, my decision”, but I do really care about his feelings and want to know if there’s a way to prevent myself from feeling awful with either decision.