Claire Parkinson, 54, Adelaide, SA.
The doctor motioned for me to sit.
It was 1987, and at 16, I’d been feeling exhausted for weeks.
“You’re pregnant,” the GP said, feeling my stomach.
How will I tell my parents? I thought. I was living in England and I was just about to finish high school and knew they’d be disappointed.
Leaving the doctor’s office, I nervously called Max*, 16, my boyfriend of four years.
I was almost 20 weeks’ pregnant Thankfully, he was supportive. “I love you and that’s all that matters,” he told me.
Dad was away for work, but when I got home, I blurted the news to Mum. “Oh, you silly girl,” she sighed. “How am I going to tell your father?”
That afternoon, I received a call…
