Just reading an article on a young Aussie girl who gave birth to a daughter, Layla, at age 13. She is now 14, and has been on a current affairs program a couple of months ago, talking about motherhood. I was impressed because she seemed responsible and determined to do the best for her child. She also understood she had thrown away her childhood for her child, but didn't regret having her. One of the comments I read in response to the article I read was why she wasn't given a free abortion, and another said that she should have been made to give the baby up for adoption, because teens shouldn't be allowed to keep their babies. So my question is - should very young teen mums, say, under the age of 16, be allowed to keep their babies, or should they be made to have abortions or give the baby up for adoption?
The government should never have so much power they can separate a mother and child, except where the child is in danger.
They used to do that years ago, to unwed mothers. Rip the baby away, not even telling them what sex the child was. Those poor women suffered dreadfully because despite being so young, they wanted their baby, and the big wigs decided they didn't deserve them.
It should depend upon the young mother, her family and the support she'll get from them - b/c she will need help - and she will need a lot of counseling in preparation for motherhood .... if she wants to be a mother at age 13,14...... Truthfully, 13,14,15 is just to young to be a mother. Hell, even 16 & 17 is to young for most of these girls..... they're just kids! If these kids 13-17 don't have families to help and support them, I really feel it's best for the babies to be placed for adoption - to be given to a mature, stable couple who are ready to raise a family. For a lot of these teen moms, they're all happy and think they're ready to be a mommy. They have adorable babies that they love dressing up like a little doll and show off their babies...... but as time goes by, the harsh reality of life really kicks in and the teen mom starts resenting that she's missing out on having fun & freedom w/her motherless friends. The novelty of being a mom w/a cute baby to show off has worn off and that's how the grandparents end up raising a child all over again...... And the dads - most of them are teenagers themselves. 99% of them turn out to be deadbeat dads. They weren't ready for fatherhood anymore than their pregnant gf was ready for motherhood....... There's open adoption where the mother can see her child whenever she wants and remain a part of his/her life.......
But there are many young mums out there who do a fine job, and some older mums out there who are shocking parents. If the girl won't get much support, that isn't her fault. If she wants to keep the baby she should be given the support from somewhere else. If you take the baby from her when she wants to be a mother, that's cruel...at least IMHO.
I didn't say that girls 13-15 wouldn't be a good mom - I'm sure some would be, but at that young age, they are not ready for motherhood, which is a 24/7/365 days a yr job. and w/o good solid family support to help her out, she's going to have more bad days than good..... Parenting is the heaviest responsibility in nature and kids are not ready for it. I was 20, turned 21 2 months after I had my 1st baby. I was certainly ready to be a mother and had a very helpful husband - believe me, your life changes when you start having a family.... One of the best inventions they ever came up w/was this 'doll' that's anatomically correct for HS kids..... I have a female relative who's now 23 and in nursing school. When she was 15, she was given one of these dolls by her HS teacher to take home and care for as a real live, breathing baby. One of Ashleigh's gal pals was assigned the 'father' - guess the class ran out of teen boys..... for 2 weeks 24 hrs a day, Ashleigh had to care for her 'baby' - the little gizmo in the 'baby' would make it cry at 2, 4, 5 AM and Ashleigh had to get up and 'feed' it, change diapers (don't know all the details about that, but it had to be changed)...... This doll does everything that a baby does and it had to be done correctly if the students wanted to pass that class. If it wasn't done or any signs of abuse, the mechanism in it recorded everything. Meanwhile her friend, 'daddy' Crystal was supposed to do her share of parenting, but only once did 'daddy' Crystal come and get her 'baby'........ Thru-out those 2 weeks I laughed when I'd hear of Ashleigh's tush dragging b/c she had to get up at 2-4 AM every nite to feed her 'baby' and all of the other motherly responsibilities and deadbeat dad was no where around...... later I asked her what she tho't of being a mother - she said 'that is WORK!'.... she learned from it. Ashleigh passed her class and is now 23, working F/T and studying to be a nurse w/o a baby to care for.... by the time Crystal was 19, she had 2 babies and no husband.... I remember when my bf's 16 yr old niece got pg. His bro & SIL helped Chris thru-out the pregnancy, of course, and they also convinced her to place the child for adoption. After she had the baby, Tom & I went to visit and we were surprised to see the baby w/them. The adoption agency allowed them to keep the baby for a week, then give it up......oh, the tears when they let the baby girl go... they should not have been allowed to have her for even a day, let alone a week... it's to painful. I never suggested that babies should be taken away from the young teens. In this country, they're not. But if family support really isn't there, what is she going to do? She needs to do what's best for the child and a good counselor will help her thru this........
Not unless they're unable to provide basic needs for the child. I don't mean this in the sense that they have to do it alone but if they're unable to receive support from family or friends as well as not providing for themselves. Or if the child is in a dangerous environment. Then the gov should step in and put the child in a foster home. As they should do for all other cases. Otherwise i think the mother should decide with consideration from her family and friends if she wants to keep the child, put it up for adoption, or use abortion.
In some cultures, girls still get married off and have children well before turning 16, let alone 18. And, not so long ago, this happened all the time in Western civilization. But society changes and moves forward, and now it is illegal in many jurisdictions for a girl of 13 to even do what is necessary to become pregnant in the first place, cough cough. So should we all go out and start a new social trend asking that young girls have babies as soon as they start their menstrual cycle? Hell no. But should we legally demand that they abort or give their babies up for adoption if they are with child prior to a certain age? HELL no. Honestly that would just be a cruel superimposition of moral standards, not to mention hugely psychologically traumatic for the girl. More traumatic than raising a child, I might add.
the government has no right to tell anyone to abort a child and if the young girl is a good Mom why would you take the baby away?
