See yourself in the reflections of other teens. Check out these inpirational stories!

:: >>

Well, I don't really know where to begin. I'm 21 now, but I got pregnant when I was 17 and gave birth to my son shortly after turning 18. My boyfriend and I found out on his 20th birthday and were devastated. We were in a really tough situation at the time. Our parents didn't approve of our relationship in the first place...how was I ever going to tell them I was pregnant? So we decided not to. We began the process of going through juvenile court to get a waiver of parental consent so I could get an abortion. This way, we figured, no one would ever know. But then my boyfriend lost his truck and his job...no way to get to the courthouse and no money to pay for the abortion. The month or two that followed were spent in limbo.

In late March, my boyfriend proposed to me. That was great, but we still had a baby on the way, and no CLUE what we were gonna do. Then in late April, my parents confronted me. Apparently, my mother had been snooping in my room and come upon a letter I'd written to a friend. So they said if I WAS pregnant, I could talk to them about it. I ignored it. A week or so later, they demanded to know whether I was or not. I said yes and that Nick had asked me to marry him. Amazingly, they didn't go completely psycho on me like I'd expected. The first thing on their minds was getting me in to see a doctor. At this point in time, we were considering adopting our son out because we felt we were not capable of caring for him properly. But as the months rolled on, and I was showing more and more and feeling the baby kick I realized there was no way I was ever going to be able to give him up.

After my boyfriend started feeling him kick, he felt the same way. He was still worried about being able to support a family, but he said, "He's our baby and no one else's." Our son was born September 19th, 1999 3 and a half weeks early. But I remember being so happy, and scared. We were married in October '01. We just celebrated our son, Adrian's, 3rd birthday. It's been a long and difficult trip, but I'd never change any of it. And I have the support of my husband and my family to thank for it all.