I was not a teenage mother myself but my sister was and I lived through it with her and with my family.

Basically I was at work one day and I had a phone call from my little sister crying her eyes out..... I asked her where she was...she said she was at the bus stop and she was scared to go home as mum and dad would be upset with her....I asked why and that's when she told me......" Kel...I'm pregnant....oh my god .... this was not meant to happen!!".... well needless to say I was gobsmacked.
I was shocked that she was 16 and pregnant but even more that she was told that she would probably have problems having babies due to medical problems, but it had happened and she had not been sexual active for long, but as I always say "sometimes you only have to look at a pee pee and your preggers!!"
It was a huge shock to my family, especially when my sister decided to keep the baby, which was not an easy decision her boyfriend whom she had been seeing for a long time and whom lived next door and his mum was my mum's best friend!!!! dumped her!!! BUT she was determined and I can remember her saying that she was silly to have got herself into this and she wanted to face the consequences.

I can remember us all worrying that she would not be able to cope and she was still a baby herself..... but she wanted to prove everyone wrong...

9 months later, I was in the delivery room with her when she gave birth to my beautiful niece Kelsey who is the most gorgeous thing ever...... 6 months after that she moved out of my mum and dads and privately rented a house, while working, bring up her daughter alone, and working very hard to give her a good life.

Don't get me wrong, it was so hard for her, there were times when she would cry and say she could not cope, she would cry that she did not have a boyfriend...she would cry that she never had enough money .... She would cry that she worked so hard and was so tired, being a working mum..... BUT she stuck with it and gave 110% percent.

Now 8 years on, my sister is engaged to a great guy whom has taken on my niece as his own, she owns a gorgeous house, she has a great job which she started at the bottom and worked her way up, my niece is the greatest little girl, and she is very mature, kind and beautiful.

My sister has tried for another baby with her fiancée but unfortunately can not get pregnant now so easily and will have to go through IVF, so in many ways it was fate that she fell pregnant and kept her baby..... She always says that she would not want her daughter to go through this, but she is glad it all happened and it's made her a much better person.

I'm so proud of my sister, I do not know how she did it, I know myself that I count on my hubby for support and help and there is no way I think I could have gone through parenthood alone never mind when I was a teenager.

I'm not saying all teenagers are like this and there are some teenagers that get pregnant for the wrong reasons, or do not take their responsibility seriously.
It's a shame that all teenagers are tarred with the same brush though as some can be amazing parents...just like my sister.