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Do you remember trying to avoid pregnancy in high school? Or was it just me?

I vividly remember pregnancy being considered the WORST thing that could possibly happen to you at that age. Not failing an exam, or a subject or even an entire year!

Pregnancy most certainly topped the list of worst possible life outcomes.

Pregnancy Would ‘Destroy’ Our Lives

For me it was never the baby itself, or destroying what I can see now (that I no longer have it), was once a glorious figure, or even the bloke himself- I really liked my hubby then boyfriend all those years ago… possibly even more than I do right now.

The thought of my family’s utter disappointment, my mother’s rage my grandmother’s grief and just the sheer disgrace that it would bring with it is what fuelled my fear of unplanned teenage pregnancy.

I felt obligated to do things ‘the right way’ by them – study, get an amazing job, buy a house, travel, get engaged, get hitched and ultimately start a family just before my body clock ran out of time and hopefully before I ran out of energy to chase after my future children.

Personally I couldn’t stick to it though because my hubby’s parents had an idea of who he was supposed to marry- he comes from a background of arranged marriages. The kind of union which ensures only the finest of bloodlines gets to procreate with their son. And my mother, although once best friends with my hubby’s family, hated their guts at the thought that we weren’t a good enough bloodline… I presumably wasn’t good enough for their son… as a parent and a human being I can somewhat see where she was coming from.

Another obstacle was the fact that I had a set wedding date in mind. It is one considered incredibly lucky in Chinese culture and although I am not Chinese, I’m also not one to ignore the blissful magic of positive superstitious beliefs.

Shotgun Wedding

Pregnancy was our only option in enabling us to get married on the date that I so desperately wanted. I mean there was no changing our parent’s stances. We weren’t teenagers, in fact we were in our mid twenties! But it still enraged our families no end, to the point where my mother didn’t attend our wedding, nor did my hubby’s father.

We got hitched shotgun style at the registry… I had hoped that one day we could simply redo the entire thing once all the rage had passed and our families were on talking terms once more. Meanwhile a whole decade of marriage has passed and still no change.

Pregnancy Is So Unpredictable

I felt lucky back then to have been able to fall pregnant in the timeframe that we needed, but I cannot express how incredibly blessed I feel now with the deeper understanding I have of how completely unpredictable conception truly is!

It’s not as easy as I thought it was in high school to simply get knocked up. Yes, I admit that it just takes one time, one missed pill, one night of unprotected passion, heck people even experience pregnancy after a one night stand. So yes, it sometimes does ‘just happen’ for some people, but for others, it doesn’t always play out that way.

Such A Heartbreaking Struggle

One of my closest friends, who I’ve been besties with since kindergarten, has done EVERYTHING ‘the right way’. She is just such a wonderful person and the type of daughter any parent would be proud to have… especially mine.

She studied hard, works even harder, opened her own business, travelled, bought her own homes, met the man of her dreams- he is as glorious as what she is and they are ‘soulmates’ in every sense of the word. Heavens, they are so in love that he proposed TWICE… I’m still waiting for a single engagement ring from my hubby!

Conception isn’t being kind to them though, and it’s heart-wrenching.

Guilt!

Every time I have to break my own pregnancy news to her I feel the deepest guilt, because I want it for her so incredibly badly! And even though I know my news isn’t taking anything away from her I can’t help but feel hurt for her at the same time.

It would be silly to think that pregnancy announcements didn’t trigger some people who are trying incredibly hard to conceive for excessively long periods of time. I know how it would impact me and make me question why it wasn’t working for my hubby and I especially if everyone around me was having babies.

Pregnancy Is Not The Enemy

If I could go back and educate my teenage self about anything, it would be that accidental pregnancy is not the enemy. Acceptance or lack there of, of human circumstances, being unwilling to grant your child freedom, to want to live your life through them, to maintain a rigid nature which controls every aspect of your child’s life – that’s the real enemy.

I remember not being allowed to talk to anyone on the phone, not attend school dances, or a single birthday party- including visiting anyone of my friends homes for ANY reason. Heck, I’ve only been to a nightclub once in my entire life! All for my mother’s and grandmother’s overwhelming fear of teenage pregnancy.

Some parents choose to teach their children that pregnancy is by far the worst thing that could ever happen to them. My mother often told me that given her time over she would never have had kids. And I respect that her views are different to my own. But I think it’s also imperative that people really put things into perspective, especially when scaremongering their young – what truly are devastating outcomes in life and what simply aren’t.

Watching three of my closest friends struggle with conception for years and have countless medical appointments and procedures is right up there with devastating life scenarios for me. Now that’s not to promote teenage, unwanted or unplanned pregnancy, but only to try and put things into perspective.

How The Tables Have Turned

We once feared pregnancy as though it were the end of the world, but now we wait with baited breath for a second pink line to show up on a pregnancy test and even pray for it with every fibre of our beings.

Yes, a pregnancy that is unwanted or unplanned has the potential to cause quite an upheaval. But it most certainly is not the end of the world. It’s not cancer or any other incurable disease and your chances of dying from it are thankfully quite slim.

Control

The fear of pregnancy was used like a weapon to achieve ultimate parental control. I believe that honesty and trust would have been far more compelling than instilling a sense of embarrassment and dishonour. Especially when you consider that children, teenagers, grow up, they remember these things and eventually they see through them.

Honest, unbridled communication is a powerful thing. And in reality, the facts of sex and pregnancy has the potential of being far scarier than simply telling a teen how badly a baby would ruin their life and that of their family’s, forever.

Did your parents make you fear pregnancy when you were growing up? Tell us in the comments below.

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  • I met my husband when I was 16. I always knew i wanted to be a Mum. I was not really obsessed with not becoming pregnant. I took the pill and when we were ready i stopped taking it. It was not something I ever really stressed over as such as I was never intimate with someone that I wasnt in love with.

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  • Sex was not a topic for discussion in my family except to tell me that sex before marriage was a sin. I didn’t really buy into all that but made a conscious decision not to have sex until I felt I was ready to have a baby. My husband and I met when we were almost 18 and thankfully my best friend took me to the doctor to get the pill. At that age I believed without a doubt that I would be happy to have a baby with him if that’s what happened. Obviously looking back now I realise that I was crazy and having my first at 22 was early enough and even then my husband wasn’t mentally ready. He still wanted to go out to parties and could only see all the things his mates were doing and he couldn’t. I had three children by 26 and my life was completely consumed with being a mum. I had lost contact with all of my friends and my husband was torn between being a husband/father and the life he longed for with his mates. It wasn’t easy but we managed to make it through all the tough times and have now been married for 22 years and are only now finding the freedom to start living the lives our friends always had. On the flip side, our friends are now all tied down with their young children and have a new appreciation for what it was like for us and I have even had a few of the guy apologise for encouraging my husband to go out partying all the time and giving him a hard time if he didn’t. Sadly though my husband missed a lot of the precious times with his children and wishes he could do it all again.

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  • My parents never really talked to me about sex, pregnancy etc I went to the doctors on my own accord and got the pill.

    I was a bit of a wild child in my early teen years, I’m not sure why Mum never had that chat with me because she knew what I was up too. Then in my later teen early 20’s were worse. By then I was on and off the pill and so many times I had scares but it never stopped me because I always thought it wouldn’t happen to me and it didn’t. Looking back now if I had my time again I wouldn’t be so relaxed in not taking the pill or using condoms because very rarely in my whole life have I used them.

    With my kids when they’re old enough I’m wanting to have an honest and open relationship so they can come to us and talk about everything and anything. That’s something I never had.

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  • My parents and I always had a very open and honest relationship and I’ve done the same with my daughter.

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  • Honestly i don’t think my mother knew how to deal with a teenaged girl and i didnt have reflected and now no what i should and shouldnt do with my own daughter. I got approach with no words spoken just handed me a pile a paper articles about STI’s and a packet of the Pills ontop and she walked off saying nothing! Hilarious? Kind of at the time! but now i no parents need to be open and honest and just talk to there kids.

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  • I was always worried about doing the right thing as a teenager and being a “good girl”. I wasn’t allowed boyfriends as a teenager….thats one way of stopping pregnancy!

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  • My parents always talked to me about this type of thing. Making sure I used protection, what life would be like etc.

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  • I remember being very aware of making sure i didn’t get pregnant as a teenager. It is definitely not the worst thing that can happen to a young girl but it is definitely life changing.

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  • It was mainly my Nanna who raised me as Mum was always working. I was never told anything about pregnancy and babies because those subjects were taboo. I met my boyfriend when I was not quite 14 and soon after we moved into a flat together with my families blessing. We moved to the country not long after and have 2 wonderful boys. All we ever told our boys was to use protection and if they got a girl pregnant they were not to shirk their responsibilities.

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  • My parents were certainly a bit controlling and a teenage pregnancy wouldn’t have been taken lightly. A rigid nature which controls every aspect of your child’s life – that’s the real enemy indeed.
    Reading your story again I notice you saying “My mother often told me that given her time over she would never have had kids”. That’s a very hurtful comment and I’m truly sorry she gave you the feeling to be unwanted. I’m glad the tables have turned !

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  • I didn’t fear pregnancy growing up because I was quite fixed on only having sex with my husband. If anything I was fearing pregnancy in my first 2 years of marriage because I really wasn’t ready for kids. Then when I was ready it took a bit of time to fall pregnant. Everyone’s experiences are so different.

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  • Not my parents but my year 7 health class where they showed us a graphic video of a vaginal birth. Put me off into adulthood

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  • I was never taught to fear pregnancy as a teenager but my parents knew I was responsible so I was unlikely to get into that situation. They would have been supportive of me either way.

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  • I knew that my parents loved me regardless of what I did when I was growing up. I was fortunate to have unconditional love.

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  • How sad for both her and her friend! My children have huge potential in their lives and futures but teen pregnancies would definitely not be considered the worst thing that could happen to them. If it happens, it happens and we would do everything we could to support them (our children, the babies and our children’s partners). If we need to babysit so they can finish school, that’s the least we would do.


    • That’s indeed how I would handle the situation too!

    Reply

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