Girls star Jemima Kirke has bravely shared her experience of abortion to destigmatise the controversial procedure.

Lack of money and shame forced her to undergo the surgery in 2007 without any asaesthesia, said the 29-year-old actress during a speech for the Center for Reproductive Rights.

“Because I couldn’t tell my mother that I was pregnant, I had to pay for it out of pocket. I had to empty my checking account and get some from my boyfriend,” said Kirke, who plays Jessa Johansson on the HBO series.

• Actress Lena Dunham reveals date rape incident
• Justin Bieber ‘shoves’ Nova host Ryan Fitzgerald
• Hillary Clinton’s website error page is glorious

“I realised that if I didn’t take the anesthesia, I would be able to afford to do this. The anesthesia wasn’t that much more, but when you’re scrounging for however many hundreds of dollars, it’s a lot.”

Kirke, who now has a son, daughter and step-daughter with husband Michael Mosberg, said she does not regret the decision.

“My life was just not conducive to raising a happy, healthy child,” she said.

The artist and actress chose to share her story in an effort to remove the stigma attached to abortion.

“The tricky part, is that we think we do have free choice and we are able to do whatever we want. But then there are these little hoops we have to jump through to get them,” Kirke said.

“I’ve always felt reproductive issues is something women should be able to talk about freely, especially amongst each other.”

See the full video below: