In her new memoir ‘Thicker Than Water’, she recollects how she gave a false title to guard her privateness and admits she beforehand felt “shame” over her determination. However, in an interview with PEOPLE, Kerry insists she feels it is necessary to talk out about her expertise. She stated: “I struggled a lot in the beginning with whether or not to include my abortion story … But I started to feel like it was really important for me to share this.

“This story had a lot to do with my understanding of myself and the world as my profession unfolded … It’s simply so necessary to me that abortion isn’t a nasty phrase, and that my abortion isn’t one other factor on the checklist of issues that I’m ashamed of.”

Kerry – who is now mum to three children – went on to explain the recent changes to America’s abortion laws also impacted her decision to speak out after the US supreme court’s decision to overturn the landmark Roe v Wade case last year effectively removed women’s constitutional right to undergo a termination.

She added: “We’re at a second the place it is actually necessary to be telling the reality about our reproductive selections as a result of a few of these selections are being stripped away from us.

“I’m telling my truth about my life, excavating some of my secrets. I don’t want my not telling it to make anybody think there is shame to be had.”