Stefanie Giesinger uses her reach to campaign for equal rights. Now she is reporting on a procedure that is considered a taboo subject for some: she had an abortion.
“I looked nervously at the pregnancy test and then screamed in panic,” says Stefanie Giesinger calmly. “I got pregnant about a year ago and incredibly difficult months followed.” For the first time, the model is publicly reporting that she became pregnant unexpectedly and had an abortion. In her podcast and on Instagram, Giesinger reports how difficult this path was for her.
Giesinger is a model and successful entrepreneur, and millions of people follow her on her Instagram account. Immediately after the positive test, she has to function; a photo shoot is coming up. “I felt like I was in a parallel universe,” she writes. She drives to the set and works – while a friend tries to reach her trusted gynecologist. She is on vacation, so Giesinger has to go to a strange practice.
In the post, Giesinger describes the feelings that many women who are unintentionally pregnant experience: helplessness, shame, despair. And the question: “Should I just keep the child?” She decides against it – and goes through the process that political decision-makers in Germany call a compromise, but which women who are unintentionally pregnant often describe as a gauntlet.
How are abortions regulated in Germany?
Abortions are illegal in this country, as regulated by Paragraph 218 of the Criminal Code. Up to the twelfth week, however, a pregnancy can be terminated without penalty if the person concerned can prove that they have had a counseling session and have waited three days. If the pregnancy is further along, intervention can be made if the physical or mental well-being of the pregnant woman is threatened or if the pregnancy was caused by rape. (More information for those affected is available, for example, .)
Giesinger seems to have remembered the baby photos in the waiting room of “Pro Familia” in particular. She received advice there. She later decided to have a surgical abortion, but had to wait several weeks before the operation could take place. The egg cell was “too small to be captured on camera,” she wrote on Instagram. She perceived this time as a battle against her own body: “Something was growing inside me and I didn’t want it.”
“Great respect for Stefanie Giesinger”
After the successful abortion, she falls into a hole and has to sort out her thoughts and her guilty conscience. Now, a year later, Giesinger can speak about it publicly. She thanks those around her for their support – and is grateful that she was even allowed to make this decision. On Instagram, Giesinger received enormous support from her more than five million followers just a few hours after her post. Many thanked her for her openness, others reported on their own experiences.
Countries such as Poland and Hungary have very strict abortion laws. However, studies from show that bans do not reduce the abortion rate. Abortions are not rare procedures, but the number is declining overall. Around 100,000 abortions are performed in Germany every year; in 2023, according to the Federal Statistical Office, there were around 106,000 recorded cases.
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Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
