I was sure I’d only be a couple of weeks along; it would be easy to go through
with the procedure if that was the case. As I lay on the ultrasound table I was
sure not to look as the technician was scanning, I just wanted it to be over, and
only thing in my mind was my 5-year plan. The nurse asked me if I wanted to
know the gender. Before I could answer, or question what she was talking about
she slowly turned the screen and she said “It’s a boy”. My eyes fixated on the
baby’s profile, a boy, my son. I was six and a half months pregnant, 17 years old,
and thrown into the will of God and his 5-year plan.
To this day, I thank him every day for
finding out when I did, it saved my son’s
life. I couldn’t imagine a life without
him. I want to represent hope in a teens
crashing world. After defying the odds
and graduating college, I decided to start
a pregnancy center that would service
only teen parents. Two percent of teen
mothers will graduate college before the age of thirty. I was still a statistic, but
I was two percent.
We live in a society where teen pregnancy is recognized but not acted upon. Two
Percent Project will be a nonprofit resource center, based out of the Washington,
D.C. metropolitan area, geared towards the success of teen parents. We will
strive to empower young girls and boys to live lives of self-respect and selfsufficiency. Two Percent Project will be a unique center where we recognize
all responsible participants of a teen pregnancy. A majority of teen pregnancy
support programs solely assist mothers, with little or no support programs for
teen fathers or any other individuals who are affected by teen pregnancy (e.g.
Family members, grand-parents, and teachers). We at Two Percent Project
recognize the importance of positive paternal involvement despite a cultural
narrative writing fathers out of the picture.
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