Horny History: Madame Restell
Horny History: Madame Restell
It’s real history, as told by some horny dude in my inbox and me.
This story contains sensitive content on abortion and suicide. Reader discretion is advised.
You don’t necessarily need to read this first, but I also covered the history of different abortion techniques in my last post here:
As you might have noticed, I have a particular interest in 1800s through early 1900s American history. At this point in time, approximately 20 percent of pregnancies ended in abortion. With it being illegal, most people practiced this healthcare secretly. Not Madame Restell. She advertised openly in the newspapers, even writing opinion pieces on how abortion is more moral than bringing children into a world that can’t care for them. Bruce from Reddit joins us now with the story.
Some things I didn’t get around to mentioning to our pal Bruce here are the details upon how she performed abortions. Although she likely started with tansy seeds, she eventually moved on to a more toxic combination of tansy oil and turpentine. The fact that she was able to perform surgical abortions using a whale bone without killing her patients is truly remarkable. It would have been very easy for her to slip and hit the cervical os, bowels, or uterine artery. Any of these mistakes could have killed the women.
If you read some stories about Madame Restell, they might say she learned her skills from her second husband, or that he was the one performing the surgeries. This is false. He also pretended to be a doctor, but, he did this so as to expand their business together. His pill making skills he learned from her and any surgical abortions were actually done by Madame Restell. He led his patients through a secret tunnel that led from his office to her clinic.
Unfortunately I do need to tell you that she may have stolen one woman’s baby. Besides offering abortions, women were allowed to stay at the house while pregnant until they gave birth. In one woman’s case, after giving birth, Madame Restell said the baby was with a wet nurse, and then it was never seen again. It’s speculated this woman’s father paid Madame Restell to have the baby sent away, so as to save his daughter’s reputation.
I’m not one for true heroes. In my opinion, everyone has some dark secret hiding in their past. Despite what secrets were in hers, Madame Restell undoubtedly helped many people improve their lives, while putting her own life at risk.
If you’ve enjoyed this, please leave me a heart. ♥️
Sources:
Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York's Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist by Jennifer Wright
Madame Restell, “The Wickedest Woman in New York” by Unsung History podcast
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I’m pretty impressed that Bruce stuck with it and was engaged with minimal nudity insertion throughout.