Bristol Palin doing PSA for anti-teen pregnancy campaign

Nobody knows how hard it is for a teen mom other than those who themselves were teen moms. I've read a bit about Bristol from magazines and such. She's still in school full time and also works part time. I believe her aunt babysits for her, I'm sure it's free or very cheap. I know the dad is barely a part of the child's life, if at all. But still, Bristol does have more support than most teen moms. I got pregnant at 16, and all I had was my mother who was hardly interested in my son. We lived on welfare because during my pregnancy my mom lost her eyesight and had to stop working. Times were tough and if it weren't for some friends and loads of donations from Catholic Charities and other such places, my son and I would not have survived. Although I love my kids and my life... there is a part of me that dreams about what life could have been if I didn't have my son and had instead stayed in school and started a carreer (although knowing how I was back then, I probably wouldn't have gone to college even if I hadn't had a child). But the biggest problem is nobody ever listens. You can tell a young girl all the hardships of being a teen mom till you're blue in the face, but she won't listen. I personally know a 20 year old who is secretly trying to get pregnant. She won't admit that she's trying, but you can just tell. She doesn't work, doesn't drive, and her relationship with her boyfriend isn't all that secure. They live together but he claims he doesn't really want her there.. she just sort of moved herself in one day. I guess she thinks he'll suddenly fall madly in love with her if she gets pregnant, and I know that's the exact opposite of what will happen. I've told her a few times that she doesn't want this.. and that it will ruin her relationship if she gets pregnant. I thought she'd seen the light, but the last time I spoke to her she was excitedly taking a pregnancy test... which thankfully came back negative (even then she refused to believe it).

I don't really agree that she wouldn't make a good spokesperson. She illustrates the fact that it can happen to anyone and that you don't need to be poor, ignorant or morally loose in order to have an unplanned pregnancy. While I think that we need to reach more young girls that get pregnant because they think a baby will love them or they'll achieve status among their peer in this way, we also need to address other girls who come from "good" families and think it can't happen to them. There needs to be a whole lot more done. One of my pet peeves is that unwed pregnancies have become accepted and even celebrated in many peer groups and communities. There's no shame involved anymore--probably because young people don't give a damn what anyone thinks since many families are no longer closely knit groups but a bunch of genetically linked people with no time for each other.