A mum-of-two has received death threats once she revealed she had two abortions after having her two children.
Jo Rand took to social media website TikTok during the coronavirus lockdown to connect with people and talk about motherhood.
The 29-year-old from Essex wanted to break the taboo about abortion and a woman's right to choose and has attracted 500,000 followers.
Jo, who has two children, Logan, 10 and three-year-old Hunter said she received huge backlash after she documented her termination journey in October 2021.
Jo had her first son, Logan in 2012, before having a medical termination in 2013 after splitting with Logan's father.
Following the end of the relationship, Jo formed a new partnership with Ryan and they share a son Hunter, now three, together.
Jo’s mental health took a decline in August 2021 when she had suicidal thoughts.
Jo made the decision to call a friend and talk about the thoughts that were haunting her, and that stopped her from ending her life.
In August 2021 after this troubling time, Jo went on holiday with her partner Ryan and became pregnant. But because of her poor mental health, Jo knew that the right step for the couple was to have an abortion.
In October 2021, Jo had the abortion and decided to talk about her journey online, in a bid to break the taboo, and received vile abuse including death threats.
Jo said no woman should feel ashamed in making choices for their health.
“When I was pregnant I knew straight away I couldn’t have the baby. I wasn’t in the best place mentally and I had a breakdown not long before that," she said.
“I had to get signed off mentally because I had a breakdown where I had tried to take my own life.
“My partner was not in the best place financially and we are happy with where we are and the children that we have.
“I couldn’t have had another child, especially knowing Hunter's personality, my youngest needs a lot of my attention, I could not have been pregnant and then raised a young baby while dealing with him.
“We also did not have the room, we live in a two-bedroom flat and my boys already share a room.”
Jo’s termination story can be seen in depth on her TikTok, as well as the story of how she recovered more quickly compared to when she was 20.
“After the termination I felt fine, and I was ashamed of the fact that I felt fine,” said Jo.
“I knew this was the decision I wanted to make and I was happy with it, it was the best decision for my family and for me.
“In the long run it’s not something I think about day-to-day, it's not something I beat myself up over. It was the right decision for me, I made it and I’ve moved on from it.
“If I were still thinking about it or upset about it then that would show it was the wrong decision, but because it was the right one I am carrying on with my life I don’t regret it or feel sad when I think about it.
“A lot of people thought I was wrong for feeling fine, I just wasn’t upset about it and people kept telling me that I shouldn’t feel scared to grieve but I don’t want to grieve.
“A lot of people still see it in black and white terms that I lost a baby, but I see it as I chose not to have another.”
Online Jo has faced criticism for her decision, but she insists she knows she did the right thing.
“If you go down to the bare bones of it, it was a pregnancy, it was a child, everything like that,” said Jo
“But to me it wasn't, it hadn't gone to that stage yet.
“I wanted to share my journey with people online and share what was going on. It was amazing that the response I had and the women that I managed to help that will always be one of my proudest moments.
“Obviously with that, I also got so much hate. I got so many threats for opening up about what I was doing."
Jo received death threats for making the choice, with people threatening to find her address. They said it should be an eye for an eye and they were going to kill her for killing a baby.
An online troll revealed the town where Jo lives and threatened that they would find her there.
Some even threatened to call social services, saying she did not deserve to keep the children she had.
“There were a lot of times that I just wanted to live in my own little bubble and not to pay attention to what was going on. But I had a brilliant support system about me,” said Jo.
