Our Decision to Accept Teen Parenthood

Our Story

My name is Sophia. I was 15 years old when my son was born. He is 14 months now and that makes me 17 years of age. 

Let's not deny the obvious here... I'm a TEEN MOM! It's okay, you can say it. I can't deny it. And I have come to accept it. 

As much as I like to act upon the adult role that comes along with having a child, the word "teen" is still my age and will be for the next 2 years.

I think that when people imagine a teen mom they picture a young girl who is lazy, poor, and irresponsible. Also known as the disappointing wreck that will never get out of the hole they dug themselves. 

Although this is sometimes true and not completely uncommon, I am here to tell you that not every teen mom is like the other. Every single teen mom is different from the other, we aren't cut from the same cloth. To say teen moms are all the same is an insult.

There are plenty of misinterpretations on teen moms and how they come about. I am here to share the answers to many questions that even my own family doesn't dare to ask and to clear up any misconceptions about the topic. 

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As much as I wish my story could be as simple as the TV shows, it wasn't. Nor was it easy or glamorous. 

My friend at the time had picked me up a pregnancy test and we met at the park. Where I, the classy girl I am, peed on a stick in a Porta-Potty. 

Although my boyfriend and I had a gut feeling we were still nervously laughing when we saw the positive test that confirmed it all. 

Once we knew for sure what was going on we couldn't decide what course of action was best. My boyfriend (Alex) and I knew that the moment we brought more than ourselves into the situation the choice would no longer be ours. And that was both terrifying and upsetting. 

Of course we wanted to turn to our family for guidance and we eventually did, but we took our sweet time. Everyone had their own opinion and that just made decisions harder. Looking back I wish I could have done things differently, but don't we all have something we would go back and redo if we could. 

After weighing our options we choose to keep our baby for better or worse. 

My boyfriend and I went through plenty of emotional roller coasters from the shock and confusion. We both spent plenty of nights crying in fear of what our futures held. 

Even with all our emotions we both knew that our priority was to get the both of us through high school while working steady jobs with decent incomes. He and I sought help from family, friends and each other. We knew that we couldn't get through it alone. 

My boyfriend was working a fairly paid part time job while finishing his Senior year online due to quarantine. He was there to support me through my pregnancy when he could and worked hard when he wasn't. He successfully graduated with the rest of his class in 2021. Afterwards he promptly went to a trade school in Boston and got a job in the trades not long after getting home. 

As for me, I worked toward completing my Junior year online during quarantine while working a minimum wage, part time job. I continued my online schooling through my Senior year and was set to graduate early in mid January. I received my diploma early and now it feels like our lives can truly begin. 

With support from our families we were able to successfully move Up North into our own apartment. After a long year of living with our parents it is nice to have a house to call our own.

This move has brought us many opportunities and even a breathe of fresh air. Being able to move on from our past. Here we are able to be who we are without the constant judgement we received back home. Up here the world seems to run a little slower and with more integrity. 

Currently I watch Issac during the week while Alex works full time. Until I turn 18 and can take my real estate exam in order to get my license I study and work weekends.