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Hi, this is my blog for all sorts of pro-life news, statistics, stories, and personal ventings. I am a wife and mother, as well as a nursing student. I I truly believe that abortion has failed women, and will continue to do so as long as it is legal.


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Saturday, April 22, 2006

True Tales of a Teen Mom

I just stumbled upon this article on planned parenthood's teen site "teenwire". Tell me this isn't trying to discourage parenting...

Have you ever been out at the mall and seen a teen mom with her baby? Maybe you thought to yourself, "That doesn't look so hard! And the babies are so adorable!" But before you think that being a teen parent is all about shopping for cute little clothes, here's what life is really like for a teen parent.

Rachel, 19, got pregnant with her son Dylan when she was starting her first year of college. "I always knew that I wanted to have children ... someday," says Rachel. "I had a friend who got pregnant a few years ago and she made it look so easy. It's anything but easy, though! My whole life revolves around my son!"

Rachel and Dylan start most of their days at 7 a.m. "When Dylan first came home from the hospital, he slept all of the time. I should have taken advantage of that and slept more myself! Now that Dylan is older, he is much more alert and needs to be entertained. Some days, I can't even find the time to take a shower!"

Rachel is luckier than a lot of teen moms — she lives at her mother's house with her younger siblings and Dylan, and her family provides her with a lot of support. But she realized right away that Dylan is ultimately her responsibility. "My sister is great with Dylan, but she disappears pretty quickly if she thinks that his diaper needs to be changed. Especially if it's a poopy diaper! People say that they will help you, but in the end ... it all falls on me."

Having Dylan definitely put the brakes on Rachel's social life. Rachel's friends have offered to baby-sit, but she just isn't ready to leave her baby with anyone else right now. "I used to go out all of the time and stay out all night," she says. "Now, Dylan and I stay at home 24/7. Even something as simple as running errands can be a huge hassle."

And what about quality time with her boyfriend? There is no such thing! "Anything that we do for fun has to be the three of us," she explains. "I used to think that I was ready to settle down and not go out so much, but you don't recognize how much freedom you have until it's taken away from you!"

The other thing that Rachel misses is her pre-baby physique. "I thought that I would have my baby and my belly would go away, but there are other changes to my body — like wider hips. Those are here for good." Not being able to wear her old clothes isn't the only thing that will set Rachel apart from other 19-year-olds when she returns to college. She often thinks about how she will make new friends with Dylan in her life. "When someone asks for your number, do you tell them that you have a baby? Will they still want to hang out with you?" she wonders.

And finally, there are financial concerns. Any money that Rachel gets goes to Dylan. Diapers, clothes, toys ... the list is endless!

Rachel has made a lot of sacrifices in order to be a good mom to her baby Dylan. She hopes to one day get a degree in nursing and marry Dylan's father. But she admits that she's not positive that their relationship will last, and she questions how she'd be able to date other guys when she's got Dylan in her life. She often wonders what the future will hold. "I almost feel like I won't have much to look forward to since I had my baby so early in my life. The love I have for my son is overwhelming. But, he's kind of like a gift that was given a little bit too early."

So what is Rachel's advice to teens who are thinking about having a baby? "Wait. Just wait. Having a baby changes things forever."



I don't think I have ever been so furious. I got pregnant my first year of college. Yet somehow my life isnt "ruined" in the slightest. This article says in flashing lights "having a child WILL ruin your life". I am seething.

If I was a pregnant teen who read this article, I would probably think that my life was over if I decided to have the child. This is certainly what planned parenthood advertises.

The next time someone tells me that planned parenthood gives "fair and balanced" positions on all "choices" I'm going to show them this.

3 Comments:

  • I've written them before but they never responded. Apparantly they don't like to respond to anyone who questions anything they say.

    By Blogger Lauren, at 10:49 AM  

  • I once saw on like Montel or something a bunch of teen girls who were literally trying to get pregnant. They ranged from the ages of 13-17. Their mothers were doing the best they could to discourage their daughters from going out and having all kinds of unprotected sex with different guys (which can be dangerous when it comes to STDs and such). But they were so determined to have a baby. So Montel (or Maury or somebody, xD I forget who) brought out some other teens who had already had kids and they looked tired and worn out. They looked those girls straight in the eyes and said, "This is NOT as easy as you think it is." So the girls were made to spend the whole day with the toddlers and babies and they had to watch them and feed them and play with them, all of that stuff. When it was over they were all like, "Umm...that wasn't what I thought it was going to be like." Most of the girls had wanted a baby because they want this like unconditional love feeling, but that's all they wanted, they didn't realize all of the work that was involved in raising a child. So I am glad that people discourage teens from having babies early on, because I really don't think they're ready for it and I certainly hate the thought of them going out and having unprotected sex all the time. That's just wrong. And if you think that's ok and that people should encourage teens to have babies at a young age then there is something wrong with you.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:56 PM  

  • Anon-
    What you're describing takes the intendended audiance of this message out of the picture.

    This message was included in a section involving the "3 options" once a pregnancy has already begun.

    It went something like this "adoption-bad" "parenthing-bad(as seen in post)"abortion-Godsend"

    Do I encourage 14 year olds to go out and try to get pregnant? Of course not. Do I support the ones who do with factual information about parenting? You bet!

    Also,there are many things wrong with me, but twisting context shows only something wrong with you.

    By Blogger Lauren, at 3:03 PM  

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