Teen Moms Win Too: Why I’m Glad I Had My Daughter at 15
March 21, 2014Life is kind of opposite for me. I often half-jokingly say to my friends that by age 35, I will be a hot 35-year-old woman with a career, her life mildly put together, and will start my around-the-world travel plans without my daughter. They laugh and then realize that at age 35, they will probably be all of those things, too, but at the beginning of their parenthood journey. They then realize that they never thought of things that way – and that maybe I knew something they didn’t when I gave birth to my daughter at fifteen.
Mainstream discussions surrounding teenage pregnancy and teenage parenting are centered around prevention and the possible dire outcomes of teenage motherhood. Yet there is rarely room for discussion about the benefits a mother can enjoy – even her teenage years.
Because I had my daughter at a young age, I have experienced several events in my life that I may have not experienced and learned from as early on as I did.