This is a second interview in my series speaking with young mothers who experienced and unplanned/crisis pregnancy. Although the stories are different, each of these young women have some valuable insight because of the situations they experienced, and the decisions they ultimately made.

The second of these ladies is Amy and she is mother to one son who is now seven years old. When Amy found she was pregnant, she was just sixteen years old. The pregnancy was unplanned and when the father found out he became scared and ran. Amy was living with her parents at the time, and is very close to them so she was able to tell them the week she found out. In this interview Amy speaks about her personal experience with an unplanned or crisis pregnancy.

Do you remember the first feeling you had when you learned that you were pregnant?

"I was scared! All the plans that I had as far as school and stuff, I kind of felt like now they weren’t going to happen. After thinking about it, I realized that being pregnant was not the end of the world, and that I would be able to handle it. The first thing I told myself was that I would keep going to school."

At that time did you feel there were people who were judging you about your age or marital status, and discouraging you from parenting as an option?

"Most definitely! Both my parents were disappointed because I feel they had a lot of hopes and dreams for me. I reassured them that just because I was going to have a child, did not mean that I would not be able to full fill all the things in life that I wanted to accomplish. Kids at school talked to me more, being nosey and wanting to know what was going on. I felt they were only trying to talk to me because of this, and not because they wanted to help. I had to remind myself to ignore the looks and stares and whispers."

At some point did you consider adoption as a possibility for your baby, or some other option other than parenting your child yourself?

"After a few days of silence from my father he finally talked to me, and he told me the only option I had was abortion, I didn’t have a choice. I told him he knows how I feel about abortion, I am against it, and this was my doing and I would take care of it. The only thing I would ever consider would be adoption, and only if my parents adopted the baby. After that conversation I stayed with my older sister for two weeks. When I came back home they were supportive for me to keep the child."

Can you share some of the things that helped you decide that adoption was not in the best interest of yourself and your child?

"Only because I would not be able to live with myself knowing there would be a child out there that I could not see, I was really afraid of that. I felt like I was strong enough to do this on my own. I did find that I had a lot of support, once I made my decision."

Can you share something that might have been encouraging for you to know while you were in the midst of feeling scared and unsure about your pregnancy?

"It would have been helpful if my father had not tried to push abortion on me."

Looking back, how do you feel about the decision you made, and how things have worked for you as a young mother, and for your son?

"I feel that I have made all my decisions geared toward what was best for my son and myself. I feel I chose the right things because we are both healthy and happy today, and I also completed a bachelor’s degree."

Although you did not find adoption as an option for your own situation, do you see it as a positive choice available for some young women experiencing an untimely pregnancy?

"Absolutely! I feel not all women have the support that I had, and even if they do it might not be enough. There are also so many people out there who want children, and can’t have them. Adoption can be a great decision to make."

Do you believe there some ways to help young women who might be considering an adoption for their unborn child, without making them feel pressured ?

"I feel that maybe if there were more centers that women to go to with ALL the resources that they could get, you know HUD, Medicaid, on top of informing them about adoption. Just so these women could leave there with all the information and knowledge of what is available to help them, they could make better, more informed choices."


My thanks go out to Amy for sharing her own personal experience with an unplanned teen pregnancy with our readers here. This is a real person, sharing her story to help other moms see that they have their own inner strength, and the ability to find their own way. This mother I am personally familiar with, and I greatly admire her courage and her ability to overcome what must have been a scary time in her life . While what has worked for Amy might not be the best solution for every young woman, she has certainly expressed through her journey, how essential it can be for ALL young women to get the right support to make the choices that are best for them individually.

The first interview- Young Mothers Finding Their Way - Stacey's Story

Abortion vs. adoption