Alexis

When Alexis was 15 years old she found out that she was pregnant. If this wasn't hard enough for her family to digest, the father of her child was not 15 but 21 years old. This is one of the many reasons Alexis was less than thrilled to tell her family the news. Eventually she broke the news to her mom who immediately tried to convince her to have an abortion. Alexis knew that she didn't want to have an abortion, so she turned to her 21-year-old boyfriend for support.

Her boyfriend Brian was very supportive throughout her pregnancy. But this was only due to the fact that he was obsessed with Alexis. He ended up being very controlling. When Alexis broke up with him because he was treating her badly he ended his support and would just call her names and make her feel bad.

Even without the best support system Alexis still managed to complete her 10th grade year. She enjoyed school, but that soon changed also. She ended up losing all but one of her friends when she was first pregnant. Then when she was 7 months pregnant her only friend began drifting away too.

At this point Alexis felt utterly alone. Well time went on and eventually it was time for Alexis to give birth. Her whole family came to the hospital when she gave birth to her daughter Ava and ended up being very supportive. Brian was there too and he even convinced Alexis to give Ava his last name.

Alexis soon realized that this was the biggest mistake she had every made. Brian cared nothing for their daughter. He was still selfish and controlling. Even at the age of 22 he made it a point to talk to all of Alexis' ex-friends because he knows it pisses her off. He would tell them false information about her so that they would spread rumors about Alexis.

Alexis despises Brian and has now realized that it is impossible to act 16 and 30 at the same time; and that teenagers should not be left to make adult decisions.

~Izabella Tovar

Shelby

Shelby met her boyfriend when she was just 14 years old. She liked him and he liked her, so they started dating. They had been dating for just over one year when they became sexually active. As a 15 year old and now sophomore in high school Shelby was loving life. She was a varsity cheerleader, a straight A student, and had a boyfriend that she adored. But that all changed when she found out that she was expecting.

Shelby had finally built up the courage to tell her mother that she was sexually active at the age of 15. Then just one week later she had to tell her mother that she was pregnant. Her mother was a teen mom herself so she was understanding, but being a mother she was far from happy. Initially Shelby was positive that she was going to have an abortion. She was not going to give up her cheer team and possibly compromise her superb grades because of a mistake.

However, Shelby soon changed her mind. Thinking deeply about it she realized that if her mom would have had an abortion, she would not be here. Therefore how could she take her child's life? Shelby made the same decision that her mother had made just 15 years earlier and in her junior year of high school she gave birth to her beautiful daughter.

During the rest of her high school years her relationship with her boyfriend was constantly on the rocks as he was far from helpful. Shelby ended up graduating high school with a 4.0 GPA and her boyfriend slowly came around. She was accepted into the University of Virginia's Nursing School and as she grew up, so did her boyfriend. As time went on their relationship strengthened and he became a great support system to her.

Shelby was very grateful of him because her first year of college was a bit of a juggling act. She had to commute an hour to and from school every day while being a mother and planning her wedding. With each other's patience and support they all soon fell into a routine. Last June, after completing her first year of college, Shelby married her longtime boyfriend and the father of her daughter. They were able to move closer to her school and things are now a bit easier for Shelby and her little family. She is in love with her husband and is grateful for his support, she is still attending college and her commute is shorter, and she is enjoying life with her amazing daughter. Their life is not easy and money is tight but they are all happy and healthy; they couldn't ask for more.

Shelby wants teen mothers to know that it is possible to juggle school with a baby. Education does not need to be put on hold just because you get pregnant.

I couldn't agree more. (:
~Izabella