Teen Pregnancy

[alexiis]

My name is Alexiis. I'm fourteen years old and eight weeks pregnant. I'm hoping for a boy that looks like his dad. I'm due on September 25th.

Okay, soo.. Timmy is in Boston (I live in Louisiana). His dad got custody of him and made him go live in Boston. It wasn't Timmy's fault; he didn't know about the baby (neither did I), and so, you know. His dad won't let him come back. He'll be able to come for holidays and the summer and whatnot, but he can't live down here until he turns eighteen. So I have to take care of a baby for two years by myself. Everyone told me to get an abortion, but I don't want to. I really, really want to keep it. But I don't know if Timmy wants me to, and I do want him to be a part of the decision. What do yall think I should do?

[JasmineK]

I was a teen mother. It is not easy and you must remember that when you say you want to keep your baby that's it, your life now is concerned first and foremost with caring for and rasing this child. Along with the essentials you have to make sure he is fed, changed, clean, etc but you also have to provide him with a stimulating environment so that his social and cognitive development will have every chance to blossom. It is a 24 hr a day 7 day a week job that has no breaks, and no vacation time. From the moment you become a mother you are a mother for the rest of your life. you are so young and you have your entire life ahead of you. DON'T GET AN ABORTION!!! There are loads of couples in this world who cannot have children and would love more than anything to raise the baby that is in your belly. They have the time and the resources the give a child and enriched environment that fosters healthy development. What do I think???? I think you should help a sterile couple realize their dream of becoming parents and give them the greatest gift that could ever be given. A child. No one encouraged me to give up my baby, and he suffered tremendously because of it. Despite my hopes and dreams his father and I did not end up happily ever after we ended up in court fighting over custody. When I finally did meet the man of my dreams and we were married we were ready to have our own children and it has been amazing. I love my son with all my heart and soul but i can also see the remakrable difference in a child who....wasn't breastfed because i had to go back to school, with a baby sitter and not with his mother during the crucial times of early bonding when a child needs his mother not a day care provider, and a child who was "an accident". And my other two children who were planned and who i was prepared to give my life to the moment they came into the world. I urge you to consider adoption. Being a teenage mother isn't fun or easy. It may seem really cool right now but when you can't go out with your girlfriends because you have to pay a babysitter or your child is sick its going to be hard to decide which is more important. Please consider adoption.