The four teens interviewed for this series, such as Kaya with her son Jaquill, left, were asked questions about their personal opinions on various aspects of the teen pregnancy issue. Their firsthand experiences, collection of thoughts and advice shed new light upon the widely debated topic of teen pregnancy.

For more on this interview, including sections on struggling with stigmas and finding solutions, please visit www.elon.edu/pendulum.

Motherhood at all ages

Some of the most provoking questions surrounding the issue of teen pregnancy concern the actual capabilities of teen mothers. Teen parents themselves often disagree on the differences between becoming a mother at a young age and becoming a mother at an older age. Some say their youth puts teens at a disadvantage, while others hold that teen moms are just as capable as adults.

“Being a teen mom is harder,” Megan Lambert says. “You don’t really know what you’re doing. You need a lot more help, versus being older and having a little bit more experience.”

Kaya Lambert, on the other hand, says age doesn’t matter when it comes to motherhood, and being a teen mom or being an older mom is all the same.

“I really don’t see a difference,” Kaya says. “If you’re pregnant, you’re pregnant. [An older mom] might be a little more stable financially, but then again, [she] might not. Some people say young girls might not have their babies’ fathers there, but older women might not have them there either.”

Brittany O’Daniel shares Kaya’s opinion, that there really isn’t a difference between having a baby as a teen and having a baby as an adult.

“I might not be as financially stable as an older mom would be, but I still have it under control,” Brittany says. “Just because we’re teens doesn’t mean we’re less responsible. I think once you have a baby, everything comes natural.”

“What difference does it make how old I am?” Kaya asks. “I am what I am. My age isn’t going to tell you anything.”

Either way, it is clear that teenage mothers face specific challenges that make their experience as a parent quite different than that of an older woman’s.

“You do get a lot taken from you,” Kaya says. “You’re right there when you’re about to hit life. I don’t think I really experienced life. I just think I didn’t get a chance.”

“A baby’s a lot of pressure on a person,” Ashleigh Graham says. “I think that it’s hard being young, still in school and trying to raise a baby.”

Despite the challenges of becoming a parent at a young age, balancing life as a teenager, mother and student is still possible.

“I still have a teenage life, too,” Ashleigh says. “People tell me every day: ‘Don’t think that’s the end of your life just because you’ve got a baby.’”

“It’s hard after you have a baby and you’re still in school, trying to maintain a house and get a job and everything,” Megan says. “It’s hard, but if you really put yourself to it, you can do it.”

For some teens, pregnancy may serve as something that lifts up their lives. Ashleigh, for example, says that her daughter arrived at a time when she needed to slow down and start making better choices.

“Nevaeh has changed me a lot,” Ashleigh says. “If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t even want to finish school. Now that I’ve had her, it makes me want to finish school and graduate and do something with my life.”

“If I didn’t have her, I don’t know where I’d be,” Brittany says of her own daughter. “I would have probably quit school. I just make better decisions now. I don’t want her to have a childhood like I did.”

Reporter: Alyse Knorr - 08/29/07