Advertisement

Ireland Baldwin shares that she had an abortion: 'I chose me, and I would choose me again'

Actress and social media influencer Ireland Baldwin shared her experience with abortion. (Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Actress and social media influencer Ireland Baldwin shared her experience with abortion. (Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

Ireland Baldwin is sharing her personal experience with abortion following the news that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday.

The actress and social media influencer, 26, took to TikTok to share her experience of deciding to end her pregnancy while in an unhappy relationship.

"I did have a boyfriend and I did become pregnant," she shared in the candid post. "At that point in time, I would say we were very unhappy together, and he made it clear that he never wanted kids or marriage. He barely wanted to be in a serious relationship.

"I chose to get an abortion because I know exactly what it felt like to be born between two people that hated each other," Baldwin, whose parents, actors Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, had a famously acrimonious divorce, continued. "Could I have had that baby and put that baby up for adoption? Maybe, maybe not. Choosing to raise a baby without my own financial security, without a loving and supportive partner, that wasn't going to work for me. I chose me, and I would choose me again. It's your life, it's your choice."

Baldwin clarified that she doesn't "feel that it's anybody's responsibility to talk about this if they don't feel comfortable."

"I've seen countless TikToks in the last 24 hours where women are telling other women that it it's their responsibility to share their abortion story, and I find that to be invasive, and wrong, and simply not true," she explained. "I am only now sharing my story because I want other women to feel supported and loved whether they want to share their own [experience] or not."

The social media influencer also shared that she was raped while "completely unconscious" as a teenager.

While she did not become pregnant from the assault, Baldwin said the incident "changed the course of the rest of my life." She didn't tell anyone it happened for years, except for a nurse that treated her.

"I didn't even tell my own boyfriend at the time," Baldwin shared. "Not my parents, no one."

She went on to share that following the assault, she harbored so much pain and so much guilt for so long and "lost control of her life."

Related video: Pink makes statement against Supreme Court's decision

"I drank a lot more, I partied a lot more, I self-medicated. I was in other abusive and toxic relationships and friendships. I pretty much did everything I could to distract myself," she admitted.

Seeing so many "brave" women discuss their own stories on social media and in the press made Baldwin consider what it would have been like if she had become pregnant as a result of the rape.

"It would have simply been traumatizing and impossible." said Baldwin, who prefaced her statements by acknowledging that she has "medical resources, money and support that a lot of women do not have access to."

Last month, Baldwin spoke candidly with Yahoo about her struggles throughout the years. From a young age, she struggled with extreme body dysmorphia and eating disorders. That obsession became more intense when she entered the modeling industry as a teen.

"It spiraled when I began modeling. It was so normal to have such an unhealthy view of yourself," she told Yahoo Life. "This was my job — to be told that I was fat. It was a job at that point."

Want lifestyle and wellness news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Life’s newsletter.