Karen's Story

When I was sixteen years old I was dating this guy and we were very much in love. We decided to take our relationship to the next level. It was the first time we had been intimate with each other. We used protection, but the protection failed. I then found myself pregnant and very scared.

I was one of four children and the only girl. I was a "daddy's girl". My father was old-fashioned and really did not like my boyfriend. The thought of going to my father and telling him that, number one, I was having sex, and secondly, I was pregnant, was overwhelming. I was scared to death.

I went into total denial about my pregnancy. It wasn't until I was almost seven months that I told my parents. I thought for sure that my father would disown me and kick me out, but he totally took me by surprise with his support.

One day, my boyfriend and I sat down with my father and my father said, "I assume you'll be getting married and quitting school". That's when it hit me. Married! Quit school! My pregnancy became a reality.

My boyfriend was nineteen years old, had just graduated from high school, and wanted to marry me and have our family, but my dream of a beautiful house with a white picket fence I knew would never be. I did not want to rely on welfare or my parents to help me financially. I knew that I was too young to be a wife and a mother, and he understood that.