Pregnant, terrified but triumphant
published:
Saturday | August 23, 2008
Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter
She hadn't planned for it. When the pregnancy test result came up positive, 21-year-old Senecha Brownwas devastated.
Not only was she not ready for a child, but she has let down her mother who has been struggling to send her to college to break the family's cycle of poverty.
So upset is her mother, she wants her out of the house.
But Brown, who is now three months' pregnant, is in a dilemma because her boyfriend has no suitable living arrangements for them.
Confused
She is now confused and wishes she had just protected herself and not got caught up in the spur of the moment.
Brown tells Saturday Life that getting pregnant is the worst thing that has happened to her. She wakes up feeling lonely and worthless and feels that her mother's punishment is too harsh.
While her boyfriend wants the child, he has his own personal problems, so she is left on her own to solve this major problem that is ahead.
Now Brown is without a job. With food prices rising fast, she is confused and now wonders how she will cope with taking care of herself and a child for which she had not planned.
When Callette Amos discovered she became pregnant at age 19, she was disappointed and cried for days.
"I was shocked and I was fretting because I was not sure what my father would have said," Amos, now 29, recalls.
No to abortion
She adds: "I really wasn't ready, but it just happened, so I had to work with it because I did not think that having an abortion was right."
Amos says her father was indeed disappointed when he got the news but decided to provide her with the moral support.
Today, she has a beautiful 10-year-old daughter, and while she acknowledges coping with the unplanned pregnancy was "rough", she's happy that she made the decision to carry her child.
Name changed to protect identity
petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com
Dealing with unplanned pregnancy
Find an objective confidant. It doesn't necessarily have to be a counsellor, just someone who can help you work through the choices, but not judge you on whatever decision you make.
Understand that it's OK to cry it out. Not only do you have all those pregnancy hormones surging through you, but pregnancy and deciding whether to keep, terminate or give up a baby is a tough decision.
No matter what you decide, it's important to get prenatal care as soon as possible. If you decide to keep the baby or even give up the baby for adoption, you want to make sure you bring a healthy baby into the world and that begins with prenatal care.
Also check out what services are available to you.
Do your research if you decide on adoption. The needs of a new-born baby cannot be met just by anyone, so go on the Internet and research your choice of agencies or if using a private lawyer, the lawyer himself. Also, what type of adoption would you want? Do you want an open or closed adoption?
Finally, remember not to panic. Yes, it's overwhelming and can feel like a bit much, but with planning it will work out.
