teenage mums are as good as anyother mums (Teenage Pregancy)

Member Name: STACEY0526

Product:	Teenage Pregancy
Date:	20/12/08 (201 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: the unconditionl love of a parent child relationship

Disadvantages: you may need to grow up a lot quicker

I am not a teenage mum myself I gave birth at the age of 22 and wouldn't change it for the world. Not being a teen mum you may wonder why I am posting on here so here is my story

I gave birth to by baby boy just days after my 22nd birthday, I myself do look very young for my age so people treated me as if I was a silly little girl that had got myself pregnant and didn't have the brains to abort it, if people weren't so ignorant they may take the time to see that I was not like that and many teenage mums are not like that.

One of the hardest things for me bringing up my little boy was the looks and the sarcastic comments you get from passers by they made me feel very uneasy and self conscious like I had done something wrong. When my little boy was 7 months old his dad and I took him on holiday to Devon for a week as we thought it would be a nice break for all of us. I was walking down to the shop with my little boy when some bloke walked out of the shop and shouted "look at her its like shelling peas these days" and still to this day that comment hurts me, not because what he said offended me as such as I just took it as some ignorant comment and let it pass but more so because I didn't stand up for myself and it made me feel like because I looked young everyone was judging me and thinking that I couldn't make a good mother. The comments made me feel like I had done something wrong and I know that I was more able to bring up a child a lot better than people far older than myself.

I myself have a well paid job, I own my own house and 2 cars, I had worked hard to get the money together to go on holiday and it makes me so angry that people think that because I look young I got pregnant to get a council house and a lot of benefits, I had been with my partner for just over 4 years when my little boy came along so it wasn't like I didn't know who the father was or I was irresponsible, my son has everything he wants he never goes without anything and I will do anything I can to make sure that this never changes.

I myself don't think it matters how old you are if you have it in you to be a good parent you will be, My parents were 24 and 25 when they had me and I believe that they went in the right state of mind to have me or my little brother that came along 4 years later. We were sent to my grandparents 3 nights a week and every weekend, when we were a bit older and didn't want to go to our grandparents anymore we were sent to our rooms when my parents had friends over again this was nearly every weekend, with my son I want to spend every possible minute with him he comes out with me where ever I go and I do not let my parents have him as I believe that when I am off work this is my time with him.

It is not about how you look, or how you are perceived by others, Age I don't think is even a factor and just think it is pure ignorance that people can't look beyond these things to see that teen mums can be as good if not better than older mums.

I hope that I didn't rant on too much and this makes sense as when I read other reviews and think about the stigma attached to teen parents it makes me so angry

Summary: Its not your age it is your ability to be a good parent