15 and PREGNANT

Dear DL,

My period is late. My boyfriend and I have only been sleeping together for two months. I got a pregnancy test last night and finally got the guts to take it. The three minutes I had to wait for the results felt like a lifetime. I'm pregnant! I haven't stopped crying since. I haven't even told my boyfriend. I seen your blog ad on Twitter. After reading some stories it felt like a safe place to talk to someone. Im scared and can't face my parents. Im their pride and joy, a straight A student. I couldn't imagine how they would look at me after finding out their 15 year old daughter is pregnant. I know I need to get an abortion, but I don't belive in killing an innocent baby. What do I do?

Thank you for writing in. My heart goes out to you right now, and let me start off by saying that I'm not here to judge. You're pregnant, overwhelmed and scared. One thing is certain, this is not what you planned. You have options, and no matter what you decide the choice is yours and yours only. Before you decide, take a deep breath and familiarize yourself with the options of parenting, adoption, and abortion. PARENTING a baby at 15, means you will not be having time to go to the mall with your friends, have any down-time to get some rest for yourself, have time for school, or have any type of financial resources for your own needs since having a baby is very expensive. Also, there are a lot of risk factors on your youthful body. ADOPTION is another alternative and it's not what it used to be. Maybe you've heard adoption is about "giving up" your baby? But let me say that's not accurate because you don't "give up" what you care about. Today's adoption empowers you to maintain a relationship with your child, allowing you to watch that child grow. ABORTION is another choice you have. Abortion is nothing to feel guilty of if that's what you choose but keep in mind the emotions that come with that choice afterwards. 35% of teenagers have an abortion every year. Laws involving teenagrs and abortion vary by state, so depending on what state you live in could require a parental consent in order to have the procedure. No matter what you decide, your the one who's in charge of your body and the choice is yours. Before you make any choices make sure you talk to your parents. Every parent is different, and parents differently. It sounds like your parents have high standards of you, and your scared of letting them down. Be strong and stand tall. Your parents love you and no matter how angry or hurt they are, they will be there by your side to get you through this. Be prepared to go through the emotions, and hurt from both yourself and parents. In the end, you will get through this. You are not alone!

On a final note, knowing your birth control options to prevent pregnancy is very impotant. Keep in mind that birth control does not prevent sexualy transmitted diseases, so condoms are a good option. If you decide to do condoms and birth control that's even better. It's unfortuante that all parent's do not talk about safe sex. They naturally assume if they shield their children long enough, their magically suppose to remain a virgin forever. In reality, that's not how life works. Although abstinence is always the best and safest way to not get pregnant and not catch a disease, that will never happen. Although I extremely advise anyone who's interetsed in having sex to talk to their parents I know most of you won't. Educate yourself on the internet if you don't have parent's to enlighten you on the subject. Be safe and protected before having sex. Wrap it and Strap it before you Tap it!

#Pregnancy #Teen #Baby #Abortion