It was recently reported in the news that 17 girls in Gloucester, Massachusetts all got together one day and decided how cool and how much fun it would be for all of them to get pregnant together. After all, if all these friends got pregnant together, they could all babysit for each other, they could all have baby showers together, they could all have playdates together.....what a hoot it would be for all these girsl....all of whom are 16 years of age and younger.
Appauled does not even begin to describe how I feel about this.
When I found out I was pregnant with my daughter I had a wedding ring on my finger, a job, a place of my own where I could live with this child, a college education and medical insurance. I felt confident that I could provide for my child. I'm not saying raising a child has been an absolute breeze, after all, I am now a single mom.
What do these girls have? Apparently a damaged sense of reality.
I am appauled for many reason. Within a few months, 17 babies will be born to some of the most irresponsible teens I have heard of in a while. I am appauled because these girls thought so little of the consequences of their actions. I am appauled because they have chosen to turn the most profound of human experiences into a fucking game.
Now...If a girl has sex with a boy and gets pregnant, that's unfortunate and she obviously made some bad choices. But to go out with your friends, plan on getting pregnant because you think it will be fun...that's crap. These girls have mortgaged their futures and the futures of these children. They have "chosen life" for all the wrong reasons. A child is a gift, not a way to get to hang out with your friends and get attention from others.
Some of these girls have said that they chose to get pregnant because they wanted someone to love them unconditionally. It sounds cruel, but that really made me laugh. These girls are in for a rude awakening. First of all, when you are on 2 hours of sleep for the last 48 hours, you do not feel unconditionally loved when your infant starts screaming at 3 in the morning. When your kid throws a tantrum in the supermarket because you won't buy him his favorite cereal because the supermarket brand is on sale, you do not feel unconditionally loved. The unconditional love comes from the parent not the child. Do all kids love their parents unconditionally all the time no matter what? NO! I remember hating my parents, because I was a kid and I didn't understand some of the decsions they made. Do I love my child even though she is acting like she's possesed in front of other parents at school...yes. These girls wanted to feel unconditionally loved...they should have gotten a dog.
Welcome to motherhood girs...I would have welcomed you to adulthood, but you have yet to act like adult even though you though yourselves mature enough to do adult things. For better or for worse, you will be mothers. Welcome to motherhood....I'm sure it will be a hoot.
I haven't heard a word about this before reading it here....
ReplyDeleteI had a few friends that had children while we were in school 1 out of 4 of them raised their child and is still a great Mom....not one of them planned their pregnancies but only one of them took being a parent seriously. I feel for the other 3 children who were and are being raised by someone other than their parents. You have made so many valid points here and I agree with every single word you typed!
this situation is very sad....very very sad!!!
Being a parent is a job that everyone feels confident that they can do, especially when they have no flipping clue what it actually involves. What a sick state of mind and reality these girls are living in. Peer pressure has certainly taken on a deeper dimension then when I was a teenager. Man we thought it was cool to smoke cigarettes, drink beer and break curfew, certainly not have a baby.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing a bit of research here. Funny, but I can't seem to come across any human rights articles defending a woman's right to be pregnant. Hold on...think about it....I mean, everything states a woman's "right to choose" which is linked to "right to choose abortion". Yet, where are the human rights activists saying a woman of child-bearing age has a right to have a baby? I mean, did these girls break the law (again...yes I'll put that out there). Stupid maybe, but illegal? Are they deserving of this criticism now that they are pregnant? I feel communism coming on. Who is the moral authority saying at what age, social circumstance, job requirement, etc must be met before a woman of child-bearing age may have a baby? Would this keep single women from going to a sperm bank? How about gay-lesbian couples from in-vitro or adoption? Think before ye judge...I was a single mother too and I pray for these single mothers now, as I do for all mothers.
ReplyDeleteBy the way...if anyone finds any human rights articles supporting a woman giving birth, please forward it to me. Thanks.
Auradawn IS sperm bank!!!
ReplyDelete