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Options for Unintended Pregnancies

Christina Valerio, MD, MPH
Mariah Norby, DO
Patsy Kremsreiter, MD

American Family Physician. 2025;111(4):352-360.

Author disclosure: No relevant financial relationships.

This clinical content conforms to AAFP criteria for CME.

Unintended pregnancies, which include pregnancies that are unplanned, mistimed, or unwanted, account for 42% of all pregnancies. In addition to obtaining a thorough history and performing a physical examination, family physicians are integral in providing counseling and resources to patients with unintended pregnancies. In accordance with the American Academy of Family Physicians policy statement, counseling should remain nonjudgmental and unbiased. Options include continuing the pregnancy and parenting, continuing the pregnancy and pursuing adoption, or having a medication or procedural abortion. If a patient chooses to parent the infant, physicians should be equipped to offer local resources. Physicians are not authorized to broker adoptions. Medication and procedural abortions are safe and effective for patients who choose abortion.

CHRISTINA VALERIO, MD, MPH, is an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland.

MARIAH NORBY, DO, is a staff obstetrician/gynecolo-gist at David Grant Medical Center, Travis Air Force Base, California.

PATSY KREMSREITER, MD, is a family medicine resident at David Grant Medical Center.

Address correspondence to Christina Valerio, MD, MPH, at christina.r.valerio.mil@health.mil.

Author disclosure: No relevant financial relationships.

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