I almost aborted my second son, Alicia Keys opens up

Alicia Keys said she considered having an abortion in her pregnancy with her second son Genesis, 5.

The singer and mother of two opened up about the difficult decision in her new book, More Myself.

Alicia, who’s married to producer and rapper Swizz Beatz, said she was shocked to find out she was four months pregnant with her second child.

The couple also have older son Egypt, 9.

She recalled: 

I wasn’t ready for this, which is what I told the doctor.

The 39-year-old told her doctor: 

This is the worst time ever. I’m working on my next album. My husband just got into Harvard Business School. And I’ve been drinking—a lot.’ I left her office feeling so torn.

At the time she was unsure about putting her career on the back burner.

The award-winner singer wrote: 

The music I was creating felt more important and urgent than just about everything. I’d have to put off its release for at least a year if I chose to have the baby.

Alicia said in her book she was considering her options but a piece of music ultimately gave her the answer.

She revealed:

While I was struggling over my choice, I went into the studio one evening and began listening to More Than We Know, a song Swizz and I had written.
The lyrics are about how we’re capable of so much more than we can ever imagine.
My eyes filled with tears. How could I take away the potential for this beautiful child.
This light that could touch others in ways I couldn’t dream of.
For me, the song was a powerful message that I should go on with the pregnancy.

Genesis was born in December 2014.

Alicia learned in writing More Myself her own mother went through a similar situation when she was pregnant with the musician in 1980.

She said:

It wasn’t until writing this that I realized, ‘Oh s**t, she chose me’, even through all the difficulties.

Her mother, Teresa Augello, raised her alone after becoming pregnant during a brief relationship with Alicia's father.

Alicia told People:

How would she ever know what I was brought here to do? In a way we are parallel, but I didn’t even know that.