Warning: This article contains sexual assault.
Ireland Baldwin revealed Sunday that she experienced two abortions, one of which was the result of a rape while "completely unconscious" as a teenager and the other during a former relationship.
"It changed the course of my life," Baldwin said in a TikTok video posted two days after the Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade. "I never told anyone at the time, not for years. The only person who knew was a nurse that treated me shortly after. I didn't even tell my own boyfriend at the time, not my parents, no one. I kept that secret inside of me for years, and because I did, it caused a lot of hurt and a lot of pain to me and to people I love."
At the time, Baldwin said she "harbored so much pain and so much guilt" and began to feel as though she had lost control of her life.
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"I drank a lot more. I partied a lot more," she continued. "I self-medicated. I was in other abusive and toxic relationships and friendships. I pretty much just did everything I could to distract myself."
"Seeing so many other brave women share their stories got me thinking what my life would have been like if I had become pregnant and if I had to raise a baby during everything I was going through at the time," Baldwin said. "Mind you, I have medical resources, money and support that a lot of women do not have access to. It would have simply been traumatizing and impossible."
She said at another point in her life she got pregnant in a relationship that has since ended.
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"I did have a boyfriend and I did become pregnant," she shared. "At that point in time, I would say we were very unhappy together, and he made it pretty clear that he never wanted kids or marriage. He barely wanted to be in a serious relationship."
Ultimately, the 26-year-old model—whose parents Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger split when she was 7—chose to terminate her pregnancy, saying she knows how it feels to be born between two people who, as she put it, "hated each other."
"Could I have had that baby and put that baby up for adoption? Maybe, maybe not," she continued. "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."
Though she said no one should have to speak of their experience if they are not comfortable, Baldwin chose to share hers in the hopes of making others feel less alone. "I am only now telling my story because I want other women to feel supported and loved," she said, "whether they want to share their own or not."
Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673.
