(OPINION) Left-wing activist and actress Alyssa Milano said giving birth to her first child reminded her “of being sexually assaulted,” People magazine reported.
Milano — who two years ago said “my life would be completely lacking all its great joys” had she not gone through with two abortions in 1993 — appeared this week on the magazine’s new podcast “Me Becoming Mom” and reflected on her experience giving birth to her son Milo Thomas, now 10.
“I remembered at one point [during childbirth] really not enjoying the fact that lots of people had access to my vagina and thinking to myself, ‘Why does — I don’t like this. Why does it feel so familiar? I’ve never had a baby before. Why does this invasive feeling feel so familiar?'” Milano recalled, People reported.
“That was just a fleeting moment, a tick in time, but I didn’t forget about it.” Milano added to the podcast that going through therapy for her postpartum anxiety and depression helped her connect the dots.
“After going through therapy after giving birth to Milo and remembering that one moment of feeling like I was being held down and had things being done to me that I didn’t want, to me, was very reminiscent of being sexually assaulted,” she said, according to People.
“It triggered all of these memories that I thought I had dealt with. I think anyone who has dealt with trauma has the moments where you’re like, ‘Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve dealt with that.’ Versus the moments where you go, ‘Oh, no I didn’t. I just tried to tuck it away so no one could see them or I couldn’t see them or feel them anymore.'” READ MORE
