I Was a Teenage Mother

“Everything is going to be O.K.,” my mother said, before walking into her bedroom and crying her eyes out. Throughout my teenage years I had it made. I had security, support of my family, and everything I could ask for. When I turned 16, I found out something that would change my life forever, I was pregnant. Being pregnant at a young age is a very difficult thing to go through. It can be hard mentally, financially and also physically.

Everyday, people are faced with choices. Some of life’s choices are simple, such as deciding what to wear to school or choosing a television station to watch. Other choices, however, are much more serious and have life-altering consequences. Being pregnant has many choices, whether or not to keep the baby. There are many choices such as adoption, or abortion. I decided that I would keep my baby because I knew in my heart that I would regret it in the long run if I didn’t. Throughout my pregnancy I suffered from depression, which is the condition of feeling sad or despondent mentally. My depression was mainly due to the fact that I was sixteen, alone, and scared, I was a waitress at a local restaurant, but that job couldn’t pay for all the financial needs it takes to raise a child. I left my baby’s father when all the arguing and physical abuse began. I couldn’t deal with that and I definitely wasn’t going to raise my child through it. Although I knew deep down that this big decision was for the best, it was still difficult and very painful. Just the thought of raising a child alone was scary. My parents were so disappointed in me they really didn’t have much to say, especially my mother. That made my pregnancy worse because I felt as though I had no one to talk to. I had friends to talk to but most of them didn’t understand what I was going through.

There were many days that passed when I felt as though I wasn’t going to make it and I felt as though I didn’t deserve to be alive, but who is really ready to take care of a child anyhow? I wasn’t. Then one day I woke up and realized that my life would go on, and that I just had to do the best I could and learn from my mistakes.