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EastEnders - Stacey
Stacey & Bradley's son/daughter would be 14 now if they had been born.
I think it was unfair of Bradley to pressurize Stacey into having an abortion just because he didn't want the baby. It's a shame that Stacey went through with the termination to appease Bradley as she thought he would leave her if she decided to keep the baby. You could tell she wasn't fully comfortable during the abortion process - she was terrified of losing Bradley and only done it for the sake of their relationship. Even at the last moment, Stacey didn't want to go through with it. Bradley treated Stacey appallingly during this story IMO.
For all Max's faults, I'm actually glad he told Stacey not to do it, but ultimately she had the abortion
That said, it was her choice, even though I think she only did it to please Bradley.
I think it was unfair of Bradley to pressurize Stacey into having an abortion just because he didn't want the baby. It's a shame that Stacey went through with the termination to appease Bradley as she thought he would leave her if she decided to keep the baby. You could tell she wasn't fully comfortable during the abortion process - she was terrified of losing Bradley and only done it for the sake of their relationship. Even at the last moment, Stacey didn't want to go through with it. Bradley treated Stacey appallingly during this story IMO.
For all Max's faults, I'm actually glad he told Stacey not to do it, but ultimately she had the abortion
That said, it was her choice, even though I think she only did it to please Bradley.
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Bradley wanted the termination because he was terrified of ending up like his dad and hurting Stacey and the baby the way Max hurt him and Rachel. He didn't want it and he wasn't ready to be a dad. There's nothing wrong with that. You could say that it was better that he was honest about his feelings towards the baby when he found out, as opposed to going along with it for an easy life and backing out when Stacey was heavily pregnant, or when the baby was born, or even later down the line.
In hindsight, it's easy to say that Bradley was right when he said they weren't ready to be parents, given the ups and downs Stacey and Bradley experienced in their relationship, but the abortion was the first bump in the road for them.
Stacey actually said herself in 2008 that they were too young to be parents at 19 and 21, so how would they have coped at 17 and 19? When Bradley was enthusiastic for a baby, Stacey was going on the pill behind his back and snogging someone else. So in that respect, perhaps he was right when he said they weren't ready.
If Max hadn't interfered that night, I imagine Stacey could have talked Bradley round to the idea. I think his reaction was a knee-jerk one to the fact that she'd told several people that she was pregnant before he did and it brought up a lot of his insecurities about honesty and being lied to. Stacey had known she was pregnant for at least a week before she told Bradley, and Sean and Ruby found out before him. Stacey later did blame Max for the abortion.
At the end of the day, Bradley regretted the abortion as much as Stacey did. It certainly was unfair the way he treated her, but I think it would have been even more unfair to string her along, saying he wanted the baby if he actually didn't, then dumping her with a kid in tow. It was just an incredibly sad situation where one person wanted the baby and one person didn't.