Friend of Andrea Giesbrecht shocked to hear about multiple abortions

WINNIPEG — Andrea Giesbrecht had nine legally induced abortions and one “unspecified abortion” between the ages of 20 and 37 years old. Previously the trial had revealed Giesbrecht had 9 abortions and one miscarriage.

The shocking medical history was presented as evidence Wednesday at her trial.

Giesbrecht, 42, has been charged with concealing the bodies of six dead infants.

All of the abortions were performed by doctors according to the evidence. However, it was unclear if she sought treatment by medical professionals after any possible abortions performed outside of a medical facility.

READ MORE:  ‘She told me that she lost it’: Witness testifies during Andrea Giesbrecht trial

Documents show Giesbrecht had the first doctor-performed abortion in April 1994 when she was 20-years-old. The fetus was under 20 weeks at the time.

Within the span of nine months she had another two.

In total there were nine abortions and one miscarriage listed between 1994 and 2011.

Within that time period Giesbrecht also gave birth to her two sons.

WATCH: The questions surrounding the Andrea Giesbrecht trial

1:34 The questions surrounding the Andrea Giesbrecht trial

The stunning evidence was explained using documents from Giesbrecht’s medical history claims explained by witness Gayle Martens. Martens is the executive director of fee for service at Manitoba Health.

During the cross examination by Defence lawyer Greg Brodksy, Martens was asked whether she could determine if Giesbrecht had any self-induced abortions.

RELATED: Andrea Giesbrecht trial: gruesome details of the dead babies revealed

Martens told the court she was not able to tell if the accused had any because “There wouldn’t be a claim for that” said Gayle Martens.

The fee-for-service claims is how doctors submit what services they have performed and are ultimately paid.

The court also heard testimony from Giesbrecht’s best friend, Liezl Collins.

Collins and Giesbrecht first met around 2005 when they both worked together at a group home. Giesbrecht was a residential care and support worker.

“We just clicked from the beginning,” said Collins. “We hung out a lot. She is the godmother to my child.”

Collins spoke about the close relationship the two of them had. She said they would often go to the casino together before “we got banned.”

Other times the women would meet for coffee or to go to a movie.

But despite the duo’s close friends friendship, Collins testified that she never knew Giesbrecht had a number of abortions.

“No! That completely floored me. I had no clue,” she said, in front of a packed court room.

Collins also testified that she was aware Giesbrecht had a storage locker at Sentinel Self Storage and later at U-Haul. She said she drove her a few times when Giesbrecht needed to make late payments but was never aware of the locker contents.

“All she said was she had a few boxes,” said Collins. “Her dad’s things.”

Giesbrecht’s husband, Jeremy, took the stand Wednesday afternoon.

Court heard he had a vasectomy in July 2011 but never went back to the doctor for the follow up appointment to ensure everything went well and it was successful.

Jeremy Giesbrecht said he was aware that Andrea had nine abortions.

Before their first son was born, he told court he didn’t know he was going to be a father until he received a call to come to the hospital.

“Was I shocked ten out of ten when I got to the hospital? Close, it was a nine out of ten.”

DNA evidence proves Jeremy is the father of all six fetuses that were found in Giesbrecht’s locker. He said he didn’t know about them and has only has sex with Andrea between 1999 and 2014.

When Crown attorney Debbie Buors asked Jeremy who he has had sex with to conceive a child, he simply answered, “Andrea.”

Jeremy said he had no knowledge his wife ever rented a storage unit at either Sentinel Self Storage or at U-Haul.