I had a baby at 13 & graduated high school when she graduated preschool… I became a nan at 31 & the judgement never ends
A WOMAN who had a baby aged 13 has admitted the judgement over being a teen mum has never stopped.
Michele is now 37 with a 24-year-old daughter, but admitted in a video on her TikTok page that she’ll be forever slammed by some for becoming a parent at such a young age.
Taking part in a social media trend, Michele began by saying: “I had her at 13, of course y’all think I should have given her away for someone else to raise”.
She then admitted she’s been “judged every day for the last two and a half decades”, and has even been accused of “failing” her daughter, with trolls cruelly calling her a “bad example”.
Due to her tender age when she fell pregnant, Michele actually graduated from high school at the same time her little girl graduated preschool.
And by the time she was 31, Michele had become a grandmother, after her daughter fell pregnant herself as a teenager – with the young woman joking that her mum “didn’t teach me about birth control”.
“Of course I handed down being a teen mum to her,” Michele added.
“I still have to pick people’s jaws up off the ground when they find out that I have a 23 year old daughter and two granddaughters,” Michele admitted.
She’s also faced comments from people saying her daughter “would have been better off with a different mum who could have provided for all of her needs”.
While others have accused her of “thriving off of government assistance” and “tax dollars”.
People were quick to comment on the video, with one writing: “You had her when you were 13.
“You did what you had to do and still thriving to this day.
“Good for you Mama – I LOVE this video!”
“All I hear is that y’all are close and your grandbabies having a Mimi with enough energy to keep up with them still,” another added.
“You’re a brave, beautiful woman! Not many would have made the same choice,” a third insisted.
“Best of luck to you!”
UK Teen Mum Statistics
Teen pregnancies in the UK have been decreasing considerably since 2007...
The under-18 conception rate has decreased considerably since 2007, reports Nuffield Trust.
Between 2007 and 2021, the under-18 conception rate in England and Wales decreased by 68%, from 42 per 1,000 women to 13 per 1,000 women.
This resulted in 13,131 under-18 conceptions in England and Wales in 2021.
“I had my first age 15,” someone else wrote.
“It was so very hard and he may have been better off with some rich mommy, but we did it!
“YOU’RE AMAZING GIRL!”