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Thursday–Hang in There–

Written by

Robin Strong Elton

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The value of marriage
is not that adults produce children,
but that children produce adults.

-Peter de Vries

Or so one would hope.

It appears that the spider who lives on our back porch is expecting.

Not to be a gossip monger or anything, but so is 17-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears. Three months after giving birth to her first child.

Sigh. What to say? Where to begin? This whole thing upsets me.

Motherhood is so hard; young motherhood even harder (and I was 21 when I had Jacob. I can’t imagine what it’s like at 17).

What kind of support system does a 17 year old have? What is it like to have to raise children in the face of a critical public eye? And most importantly, why didn’t she know better?

Is it really possible for someone who was apparently mature enough to have a job, give interviews, and otherwise live an “adult” life, to not know anything about proper birth control?

Really, I can’t feel anything but sorry for her. She was in such a hurry to become an adult. Well, there you go. There’s no going back now.

I wish her a safe pregnancy and I fervently hope that there is never any call for the media to bring her to my attention again. May they lead boring, responsible, happy, well-adjusted lives.

I can dream, can’t I?

What’s your take? I’m still sorting through how I feel about this.

The article I linked to above brings Bristol Palin’s pregnancy into the mix. Is that relevant? Unfair? Do you think these girls make teenage pregnancy seem more acceptable? Less so? Does marriage automatically legitimize being pregnant at 17?

(I promise never to blog about a member of the Spears family again. This is just what’s on my mind this morning, and nothing else was going to get done until I mentioned it.)

Comments

3 responses to “Thursday–Hang in There–”

  1. Stephanie Avatar
    Stephanie

    Bristol Palin's pregnancy can't have much to do with it; after all, since announcing it most media hasn't talked much about it (thank goodness! I seriously think they should give her some privacy). Spears, on the other hand, was talked about for MONTHS. Even I couldn't believe the "good girl" of Nickelodeon was pregnant.

    Again?!

    I feel so awful sometimes for the children of the Spears, both of them. I doubt it's all that fun to be in the spotlight because of your mother. Imagine what sort of flack they'll get from their peers for the rest of their lives, for having mothers that can't seem to get a grip on reality.

    As an aside, I don't think happy, responsible, well-adjusted lives have to be boring. 😉 Otherwise they couldn't be very happy, I'd think.

    I'm still not sure I can wrap my head around getting pregnant three months after a first child, at 17. You're not too tired to get pregnant? You're not constantly watched by your mother, who's acting like a hawk over you and making sure you take care of that new life? (I mean, I don't plan on getting pregnant ANY time soon or ever, but if I did get pregnant, even at the ripe ol' age of 19, I am pretty sure my mother would want to keep a close eye on me. Babies are scary. Although maybe because I realize that she won't. No, I'd rather think my mom would kill me if I'd gotten pregnant at such a young age…)

    Reply
  2. Stephanie Avatar
    Stephanie

    Ugh, so today, one whole day after reading this, I learn that one of my almost-18-year-old cousins is pregnant. It was a shock and came far too close on the heels of learning about this. And they say abstinence education works.

    Reply
  3. Robin Avatar
    Robin

    oh, Stephanie. I hope everything works out. I don't know what else to say.

    Abstinence education is not enough.

    Reply

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