QuestionQUESTION: Hi Dr. Joan,
How often does a surgical abortion at 10 weeks fail? How do you know if it wasn't successful? Also, when you go for your post abortion check up 2 weeks after abortion how do they know the abortion was successful without performing an ultrasound? Why do they even do a pregnancy test at the checkup if the hcg is still in your system? And is it possible for a woman to go 14 weeks overdue and not go into spontaneous labor herself, would the baby survive in the womb that long overdue?
ANSWER: Dear Daniella,
It would be unlikely for a surgical abortion at 10 weeks to fail. Presumably they did an ultrasound at the initial visit to rule out a twin pregnancy. Most abortion clinics will examine the tissue on site, and many also send the tissue to a lab. The other way to know is whether pregnancy symptoms decline. At 10 weeks, most women have some pregnancy symptoms. Within days the woman should notice a difference in these symptoms. In other words, if the tissue was not complete, or the symptoms of nausea and breast tenderness were getting worse, standard of care would be to do a further evaluation with an ultrasound and blood tests.
You are correct that most pregnancy tests will remain positive 2 weeks after an abortion at 10 weeks. However, there are some urine tests that do not turn positive unless the hormone level is over 2000. These are called low sensitivity pregnancy tests, and are sometimes used at abortion centers. I don't know if the clinic uses that test - but if they did, it would most likely be negative after 2 weeks (the hormone level most likely would have dropped below 2000). The regular pregnancy test turns positive at 25, so it can take 1-2 months to become negative.
I hope this answers your thoughtful questions! You have clearly done your research!
Doctor Joan
EarlyAboritonOptions.com
Early Abortion Specialist
New York City
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: So you don't think it's possible that my 10 week abortion failed and I went 14 weeks overdue cause I got pregnant again after my abortion but when I had my daughter it would have made her 14 weeks overdue! Is that possible to be pregnant that long without going into labor naturally! And I never told my dr. about the abortion but when I went in for my ultrasounds they added up to my LMP (first period after abortion) Just makin sure it was the 2nd pregnancy and not the first pregnancy!!!
AnswerDear Daniella - it would be impossible to be 14 weeks further along and not be able to tell by ultrasound at a prenatal visit. You can definitely stop worrying. I'm 100% sure, and you don't need to share this information with anyone if you don't want to. It doesn't affect your medical care. Congratulations on your pregnancy!
I hope this is helpful,
Doctor Joan
EarlyAbortionOptions.com
New York City
