Listen to the Call:
Transcript:
OFFICE OF DR. HAMILTON – OB/GYN UNLIMITED
MANCHESTER, NH 03104
603-224-5017
TAPE – 817
(Dialing, phone ringing 5x)
CLINIC: Hello?
CALLER: Hi. Is this Dr. Hamilton?
CLINIC: It is indeed.
CALLER: Hi. Yeah. I got your number from the machine when I called your office.
CLINIC: Yes?
CALLER: I was just wondering if you do abortions?
CLINIC: Of course I do.
CALLER: Okay. Well, do you know how much it cost for that?
CLINIC: It depends on how pregnant you are. If you are less than 11 weeks, it is $300.
CALLER: How do you know how many weeks you are?
CLINIC: Well, it’s based on the first day of your last menstrual period.
CALLER: Well, that was January 15th.
(Pause)
CLINIC: I’m sorry. I’m at a gallery right now.
CALLER: Oh, okay.
CLINIC: January 15th makes you — it makes you about eight weeks pregnant. And that would make you perfect. I don’t generally do them before eight weeks.
CALLER: Well, the thing is my main worry is, I’m going to be 14 later on this month, like on the 19th. And my friend said that you guys would have to tell my parents. But my boyfriend’s 22. Is he old enough to take care of everything, and you wouldn’t —
CLINIC: Wait, wait, wait, wait —
CALLER: — tell anybody.
CLINIC: Wait a second. You don’t have to tell — where are you calling from?
CALLER: I’m in Hillsboro.
CLINIC: Hillsboro. I don’t have to tell your parents. It has nothing to do with age or anything.
CALLER: Really?
CLINIC: No.
CALLER: Well, that’s what my friend told me.
CLINIC: Oh, cocka (?). If you’re in Massachusetts, yes, it’s true, but not here in New Hampshire.
CALLER: Really?
CLINIC: No.
CALLER: Well, me and my boyfriend were talking about all this. Like she said he would pay cash for everything, but we don’t want anyone to know about us. Would he have to sign anything if he has to pay for it?
CLINIC: No, no, no. That’s fine. That’s fine. You don’t have to worry about that. This is all confidential.
CALLER: Really?
CLINIC: Yes. Do you know what your blood type is?
CALLER: Well, no.
CLINIC: Because that’s a critical issue.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: The reason I say that is because 15 percent of the population is what we call RH negative. Eighty-five percent of the population is RH positive. Now you’re going to say, what the hell does that mean.
CALLER: Yeah.
CLINIC: On the surface of our red blood cells there are protein complexes that we have been able to analyze. And we have given them arbitrary names. For example, if you have a certain protein complex, we call that A. If you have another certain protein complex, it’s called B. If you have both of them, it’s called AB. If you have neither, it’s called O. You follow me?
CALLER: Uh-huh.
CLINIC: That’s where your A, B, O comes from. There are multiple other protein complexes, one of which is called the RH factor. Again, 85 percent of the population has it; 15 percent doesn’t
Now, here’s the hooker. If you are RH negative, you need to get an injection of a medication called Rhogam to help protect you for future pregnancies. And I don’t really want to go into all the details right now. I’d be more than happy to do that in the future. But it’s important to know whether you’re RH negative or RH positive. If you’re RH positive, no problem. If you’re RH negative, that’s a problem. And then we would have to give you an injection of a medication called Rhogam. And that would cost you an additional $65.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: All righty?
CALLER: Well, I haven’t had a pregnancy test yet. Would you guys do that beforehand just to make sure?
CLINIC: No, it’s something you should do to make sure.
CALLER: Well, where shall I go to get a pregnancy test?
CLINIC: Well, Family Planning, Planned Parenthood, one of those organizations.
CALLER: But would they have to tell anybody if I was there?
CLINIC: No. It’s all private, privileged, nobody’s business. No one is going to call your folks and say, “Oh, my God. Your daughter was here.” No. They’re not going to do that. This is all confidential stuff.
CALLER: Okay. So if it turned out that I was pregnant, how much money should we bring to come to you?
CLINIC: Well, first of all, we need to obtain a blood typing. We really don’t care whether you’re A, B, O or AB. We need to know whether you’re RH positive or RH negative. That’s really the critical issue. That you may have to go into a hospital and have done. Then the hospital is going to bill you. And they may bill you at your parent’s home. Do you understand where I’m coming from?
CALLER: Yeah.
CLINIC: Whether or not you can pay them directly is up to the hospital. Where are you calling from? What’s the hospital nearest you?
CALLER: I’m not really sure. We just moved here.
CLINIC: You’re in Hillsboro?
CALLER: Yeah.
CLINIC: Okay. So you’d probably come into Concord. And how old are you?
CALLER: I’m 13. I’ll be 14 on the 19th.
CLINIC: (Grumbling sound) That’s going to be a problem. What we’re going to probably have to do — just so you understand — the hospital will not blood work on somebody who is under 18. So what you’re going to probably have to do is on the day that we — if you want to schedule a procedure with us, you’re going to probably have to come in an hour early. We will draw the blood from you. And then Sandy, my office nurse, will send you or your partner over to the hospital to drop it off, and they will do the blood work. But again, understand that they will probably bill you at your home address or your partner’s address.
CALLER: So I can give my boyfriend’s address?
CLINIC: Yes, you certainly can, if that’s not a problem.
CALLER: Yeah. He said that that would be all right.
CLINIC: Now, from what you’ve just told me, you’re about eight weeks pregnant, which is the optimal time that I would want to do this. Now, a question to you. How soon do you want to do this?
CALLER: Well, I’ve got to take a pregnancy test first. But I just — as long as no one finds out, I don’t really care.
CLINIC: Well, you can go to the drug store and buy yourself a pregnancy test kit.
CALLER: Are those usually right though?
CLINIC: Well, most of them are pretty accurate unless you’re using marijuana.
CALLER: Oh, no.
CLINIC: I’m just telling you very honestly. Marijuana and aspirin can give you a false positive.
CALLER: Oh, okay.
CLINIC: If you normally have regular periods, and you haven’t been using any contraception, and your breasts are fuller and firmer and harder and painful, and you’re feeling kind of crappy in the morning — there are certain symptoms that go along with the fact that you probably are pregnant.
CALLER: Oh, okay.
CLINIC: Have you ever skipped periods before?
CALLER: Well, no. I’ve been like a week or two late before, but never this late.
CLINIC: Okay. Well, the other issue is to go into a Planned Parenthood clinic or a Family Planning clinic and have them do a pelvic exam on you, and just make sure that you are indeed pregnant. Or go to a drug store and get yourself a pregnancy test kit. And you collect a sample of urine, and you drop a drop into a — they’re pretty accurate.
CALLER: Okay.
CLINIC: Okay? Why don’t you check that first, get back to me. And if I can help you, I’ll be happy to do that.
CALLER: All right.
CLINIC: Okay?
CALLER: Okay. Thanks.
CLINIC: You’re welcome.
CALLER: Okay. Bye.
CLINIC: Bye now.
***END***