An unplanned pregnancy can bring relief, worry, excitement, uncertainty or several feelings at once. It may be wanted, unwanted or something you have not decided about. You deserve clear information and support without pressure towards a particular choice.
Confirm the pregnancy and arrange support
If you have not tested, follow the instructions on a home pregnancy test or speak to a GP or sexual health service. If a test is positive, arrange an appointment to discuss your health, how many weeks pregnant you may be and the options available to you.
You can seek information before you have decided what to do. Booking a consultation does not commit you to continuing or ending the pregnancy. Contact a service promptly, because timing can affect available care, appointments and travel arrangements.
What are the options?
Your options may include continuing the pregnancy and parenting, ending the pregnancy through abortion, or continuing the pregnancy and exploring adoption or another care arrangement after birth.
Continuing the pregnancy and parenting
You may want to discuss antenatal care alongside practical support with housing, income, work, study, relationships or childcare. A GP, midwife or social worker can help identify services. You can ask about support for parenting on your own as well as with a partner or family.
Abortion
Abortion ends a pregnancy. Depending on your circumstances, care may involve medicines or a procedure. A qualified provider can explain which methods are appropriate, the expected experience, possible risks, pain relief and follow-up.
Abortion is available within legal frameworks across Australia, but rules, services and access differ between states and territories. Gestational age, health needs and local availability matter. Ask a provider for current advice for where you live; do not assume a single online week limit settles your eligibility or that later care is never possible.
Adoption or other care arrangements
These involve continuing the pregnancy and giving birth. Adoption, foster care and kinship care are different arrangements with different legal and practical consequences. If you want to explore them, ask a qualified social worker or your state or territory service to explain the process, consent requirements and support available. This article cannot determine an individual arrangement or its availability.
Find counselling that supports your decision
Pregnancy-options counselling is optional. A non-directive counsellor can help you think through your circumstances and feelings without choosing for you. You can also seek support after you have made a decision.
Before booking, ask whether the service discusses all options, including abortion, and whether it has an approach or affiliation that limits what it will discuss. Ask about fees, confidentiality and referrals. If you feel pressured or dismissed, you can look for another service.
You might find it useful to ask yourself: What do I want? What worries me about each option? What support would make a practical difference? Whose views feel helpful, and whose expectations are making it harder to hear my own?
Privacy, safety and pressure from others
You can ask to speak to a clinician alone. Tell the service if it is unsafe to leave a voicemail, send a letter or contact you through a shared account. Ask how confidentiality applies to your circumstances, including if you are under 18; do not assume a general internet rule answers every situation.
Pressure to become pregnant, continue a pregnancy or have an abortion can be reproductive abuse. If someone is controlling your choices or you feel unsafe, 1800RESPECT offers support on 1800 737 732. Use a safe device if you are worried someone monitors your activity. Call 000 if you are in immediate danger.
If the pregnancy followed sexual assault, what happened was not your fault. You can ask a health professional or sexual assault support service for care without having to decide every next step at once.
Finding appropriate local care
A GP, sexual health or family planning service is a useful starting point. Healthdirect’s pregnancy-options information lists support pathways. In NSW, the Pregnancy Choices service provides local information. Queensland residents can use Queensland Health’s abortion access information.
Tell the provider if cost, distance, disability, language or appointment availability is a barrier. Ask about fees, funding eligibility, telehealth where appropriate and who will organise any referral. If the first service cannot help, ask where you can get timely care rather than assuming you have no options.
Look after your health while deciding
Ask a doctor or pharmacist about medicines and supplements; do not stop prescribed treatment abruptly. If you may continue the pregnancy, ask about folic acid and other antenatal care. Avoid alcohol while pregnant and seek support if stopping alcohol or other substances is difficult.
Whatever you decide, pain or bleeding still needs assessment. Seek urgent care for severe or one-sided abdominal pain, shoulder-tip pain, bleeding with dizziness or faintness, or feeling seriously unwell. Call 000 for heavy bleeding, collapse or severe breathing difficulty. Do not wait for an options appointment if you have urgent symptoms.
This is general Australian information, not individual medical or legal advice. Current local services can explain the options that apply to you.
Related reading
Read more about bleeding in early pregnancy and when to seek help.
Sources and further reading
- Healthdirect: making decisions about an unplanned pregnancy
- The Royal Women’s Hospital: pregnancy-options counselling
- RANZCOG: Clinical Guideline for Abortion Care, version 1.4, 2026
- NSW Health: pregnancy choices
- Queensland Government: abortion care and access
- 1800RESPECT: reproductive abuse
- Healthdirect: medicines during pregnancy
- Healthdirect: ectopic pregnancy