It’s been a tense few days following the news that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. Since then, there has been no shortage of rallies and women sharing their own personal stories about reproductive healthcare, including celeb Lauren Conrad.
The Laguna Beach and The Hills star took to Instagram Stories to share her own story of starting a family, which included an ectopic pregnancy. “The last few days have been hard. I’ve been searching for the right words and reposting someone else’s didn’t feel quite right. Six years ago, while trying to start our family, I had an ectopic pregnancy,” she writes in the now-disappeared story.
An ectopic pregnancy is one in which a fertilized egg implants outside the womb, usually in a fallopian tube (called a tubal pregnancy). Unfortunately, all ectopic pregnancies cannot survive and can be very dangerous for the mother if the egg continues to develop, which can cause the tube to rupture.
It appears that Conrad faced this devastating scenario, but with healthcare support. “Due to prompt medical care doctors saved my fallopian tubes, allowing me to have two healthy pregnancies,” shared Conrad.
With the overturned Roe v. Wade ruling, much is now unknown about how this very common but serious medical situation will be handled in the future. Whether it’s performed to end an early pregnancy or to handle a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy, a D&C (dilation and curettage) is performed the exact same way and many doctors are unsure how the procedure might be affected under new laws.
While many things are left in the air for the time being, now is the time for everyone to band together on the rights of women. “I hope someday we will be in a place where every woman has access to the healthcare she needs and the freedom to decide what happens in her own body,” Conrad says.
We can only hope.
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