No one ever dreams they will become a teen parent. I know I didn’t. My dreams were to become an attorney and get married and have a family and a house. Well that wasn’t the case.
At age of 14 I met a man who was 4 years older than myself. I lied about my age and told him I was going on 17, the worst lie a young lady should tell. We started dating and a year later at age 15, Ibecame pregnant. Before my 15th birthday he found out that I was underage, butwe decided to stay together even though my mother strongly objected.
Atthe age of 16 my son was born. I did not receive the guidance needed as a pregnant teen; my mom wasn’t there for me emotionally or financially. She left that up to my son’s dad,however he was more abusive than supportive… mentally, verbally,emotionally and especially physically.
Having to take care of a child while being a child was hard and I couldn’t do it on my own. My mom convinced me that she should watch my son while I got myself together, and I trusted her. I went to live with my aunt and in an effort to get my life together, I enrolled in school. While I was living with my aunt I learned that my mother went to court to gain custody of my son. Even worse, her sole purpose for doing so was to have access to his disability check and she severely brainwashed him against me.
My son was one year when he was taken from me and I did not have the chance to bond with him or be a mother to him. I promised myself that if I was to ever have any more children, I would never again abandon them.
Three years later, at the age of 19, and in a different relationship, my first daughter was born. Happy and very protective of her, I found that loving her came very easy because I decided I would give her what she needed. By the age of 26 I had five daughters. It can be hard to support your children when you have dropped out of school, have no job skills and barely know how to provide for yourself, but my love for my children motivated me to do what I could to provide for them as a single mother, with no support from their dads.
If I could have turned back the hands of time, I would have made my education a priority and yet I consider my journey to have been a valuable life lesson. In spite of what I may not have had, and may not have been able to provide, I love all my kids… all 7 of them. We are not only mother and daughters, we are friends. I used my experience to teach them that education was the key to living and not having to struggle.
Being a
Teen Mom Taught Me
to Love
by Olevia Henderson