Name:	Jennifer M
Online Name:	Jennifer
Country:	USA
State:	California
Age:	22
Your Birthday:	May 7, 1978
Special Talents:	I can talk myself out of just about anything and I can put the fear of God into any company that is trying to take advantage of me.
Hobbies:	I am getting a hatchling cockatiel this weekend to hand-feed and in the little spare time that I have I love to write.
Where do you work?	Live Chat Customer Service at wine.com
Were you working when you became pregnant? If yes, doing what?	Yes, at Petco
Are you in school?	No
If you've graduated, what is your degree?	I got my GED.
How old were you when you had your first child?	19
Did you keep? abort? give up for adoption?:	Kept
Was it the first time you had sex?	No
Were you and the father a couple?	Yes
Are you still together?	Yes
If you're not together, is the father involved? How is he involved?	enter here
Were you using protection against pregnancy? If yes, what kind?	Yes. I was on the Pill. I was switched to a lower dosage because it was making me sick and was told I did not need to use protection during the adjustment period. I told my doctor he should pay child support when I found out I was having twins.
If not, was it because you were trying to get pregnant? Please explain:	enter here
Did you know how you would support the baby? Support yourself?	I knew I would do what I had to do to take care of my family.
Were you using protection against STDs?	No
How many children do you have?	2
What are their names, ages, birthdays?	Kaylie and Sarah. Twin girls born on Feb.27, 1998
Was the pregnancy emotionally difficult?	Very. The thought of 2 babies is still very overwhelming.
Was the pregnancy physically difficult? i.e. were there any medical problems?	I was forced to go on disability early and I delivered 8 weeks premature.
What was/is the most difficult experience as a young mother?	People not trusting my judgement as a mother and thinking they know my kids better than I do.
Was your family helpful/supportive?	I would not have kept my sanity if my family was not there for me.
Did you stay at home with your parents?	I was living with the fathers mom for the first year and a half.
Did your family help support you? The baby? Emotionally, financially, or both?	Both of our families helped enormously in all ways possible.
Do they support you now? Emotionally, financially, or both?	They all support us emotionally now, but the newness has gone away so we don't get as much enthusiastic help as we used to.
Did/do you need public assistance? How did/does that make you feel?	I was on public assistance when Joe and I separated for a while. I was fine about being on it because it meant I was taking care of my family.
Was the father's family involved with the pregnancy? Emotionally, financially, or both?	We lived with his mom and she helped us enormously.
Did the father's family help support you? Emotionally, financially, or both?	Mostly it was his mom and she did a little bit of everything.
Does the child have a relationship with the paternal Grandparents?	Grandma only. Grandpa is out of state.
Do you feel accepted by people your age?	I feel accepted more by people older than me. It seems the younger the person is the less I have in common.
Do you feel like you have it harder than people your own age without children?	YES!! Taking care of a family is a lot harder than just taking care of yourself.
Are you happy with the decisions you have made? (Be honest. . .it's ok to feel bad, we all do sometimes)	I don't think anyone has any regrets whatsoever, but I wouldn't change anything if I had the choice because I am so happy with my girls.
What are your personal goals? (goals for yourself as an individual not as a mother)	My personal goals are to be able to take more time for myself and do things for myself without feeling guilty for it after.
Have your goals changed since you became a parent?	Definitely. Before I was a mommy my goals were to get my own life and be on my own as an independent woman. It is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.
Do you feel that reaching your goals will be more difficult now that your a teen parent?	No. My main goal has been to be independent and a secure person and I think that having my girls has given me a huge motivation to do that.
What would you tell a (school age) 12-18 year old girl that wanted to get pregnant?	I would tell her that being an adult is not as glamorous as it seems right now and to have fun while she is in school. Concentrate on yourself now because when you have kids all of your time and concentration is on them and you get no time just to be you.
How do you think being a Young Mother has changed you?	I've had to grow up very quickly and learned that things don't always go the way you want them to. I've learned that life is a compromise no matter what you are doing.
How do you think society looks upon teen pregnancy?	I think society is getting used to it but that isn't necessarily a good thing. I think that society needs to get over the issue of keeping teens from having sex, because there isn't anything we can do to stop that, and concentrate more on educating teens about the consequences of having sex. (STD's, HIV, pregnancy, etc.)
Why do you think there are so many teen parents?	I think that a lot of teens are just naïve to the real world. They think, it won't happen to me, or it wouldn't be so bad if I had a baby.
List 5 Pro's to being a teen Mother?	Being young enough to have the energy to keep up with youngins, as your kids get older it is easier to relate to them because it wasn't that long ago you were in the same state of mind, when your kids are adults you are still young enough to go out and have more fun, there are great resources out in the community to help teen mothers that mothers over 20 years old cannot take advantage of, and a young body seems to bounce back after pregnancy and delivery a little better than an old body.
List 5 Con's to being a teen Mother?:	Society stereotypes: all teen moms are irresponsible girls who sit around and collect welfare, etc. Not being able to do all of the things other people your age do, having stretch marks at such a young age, and you can't show the skin anymore anyways because you're a mommy!
What do you expect to get out of being a member of Young Mothers?:	I would like to meet a few people who are having the same issues as me and are around the same age. Maybe some women who are just as confused as I am about some things.
Today's Date:	July 10, 2000