Rai

singchildrenishard,andanyparentwhosay sdif
ferentl
yislyi
ng.Parent
ingisemot i
onally
andintel
lectuall
ydraini
ng,anditoftenr equi
resprofessionalsacr
ifi
ceandser i
ousf inancial
har
dship.Ki dsar eneedyand demandi ng fr
om themomentoft hei
rbirt
h.Rai
sing chil
dren
i
nvolvessuppor t
ingthei
roveral
ldevelopmentandpr eparingthem forli
fe.Agoodupbr i
nging
moldsachi l
di nt
oagoodhumanbei ng.

Thetruthisthatpar enthoodisbothwonder fulandawfulatthesamet i

me.Whatmakesi t
wonderf
ulareal lthet hi
ngspeoplet el
lyou.Whatmakesi tawf ul
,howev er
,i sn'
tqui
teas
i
ntui
ti
velycl
ear.Certainlytheobv
iousthingsl
iketant
rums,st
ubbornness,andli
festyl
echanges
aredi
ffi
cul
t.Buttheyar en'
twhatI'
vefoundthemostchall
engi
ng.

SoIi
nterv
iewedtwoki
ndsofpar
ent
s(oneadolescentandoneadul
t)
andr
elat
ethei
rexper
ience
i
nrai
singchi
ldr
enandi
nmakingali
vi
ngtorai
seaf amil
y.

TheAdul
t

Accor dingt oher ,"r

aisingal otsofchi l
drenwhichisshegav ebi rt
hto9chi l
dren'sisv er
y
hard,sincet hesuppl iesoff oodandmoneyt heywil
luseev erydayi shardtof indbecauset hey
don'thav eaj obbecauset heyareonl yanel ement
arygraduat e.
Ithinkthehar destthingi show
muchi tcost stohav echi l
dren.Thecostofl i
vi
ngissohight hatit’
sv eryhardt omanagei fonly
onepar entwor ks.Ihav eninechildr
en, myhusbandi nthefarm andIdoabout24/ 7chor esand
responsi bil
i
tiesathome.I t’
shar dwor kthatIhavetosqueezei naroundf ul
l-
timepar enting,but
i
t’sfinanciallyimpossi bleformet ost op.It’
salsonotworthmeget ti
ngaj oboutoft hehouse,
becauset hatwoul dputast optothesmal lnumberoft
axcr editswegetandI ’dpayt hrought he
noseonchi ldcare.I.Ibeti tmakest hedeci si
ontohav echildrenev enharderf orthosey oung
coupleswhoar econsi der
ingit.Aspar ents,wewantthem t ohav ehappypr oductivelivesand
weseet heirpot entialmor ethanany one.Allwewanti sf ort hem todot heirbestatev er
y
momentsot heydonotmi ssout "
Inmyopi nion,she'si nahardsituationandreal
l
yneedani mmediateactiontohelphercontrol
andmai ntaint hei
rgr owingfamily.
It hi
nkshereall
yneedt ousecont r
acepti
ont ocont
rolher
birt
h,bot
hofherpar tnerswil
lbenefitonthi
s.Thebestsuggesti
onsthatshe'
llusewasusingthe
birt
hcontrolpill,
Thebi r
thcontr
olisasaf e,si
mple,andconveni
entwayt opreventpr
egnancy.It
alsohasot herbenef itsli
kereducingacne,makingy ourper
iodsli
ghterandmor eregul
ar,and
easingmenst rualcramps.

Andcont r
acepti
onreducespov
ertyi
nthissectorbecauseadul
tswhoei therchoosenottohave
chi
ldrenordelaytherateatwhichtheyhavechildrenhavemor eti
meandr esour
cestoearn
bett
er-l
iv
ingpotent
ial
swhencomparedt othosewhomustuset hei
rincomet opr ov
idef
orthei
r
famil
ies.

TheAdol
escence

Accordingt oher ,
"asat eenpar entit
'smorehar derrai
singachildbecauseshedon'thav eajob
andshe' sasi ngleparent.Sheonl ygetfi
nancialsupportonherparent
sandhar dtimet obuythe
chi
ldnecessi t
ies.
Shesai dt hatsher egr
etteddoi ngsexualthi
ngswithhispartnerthatcaused
hertost opgoi ngtoschoolbecauseofget tingpregnant.Andshehadhardtimegettingthetr
ust
andforgiv enessofherpar ent
s.Andt heonl
yt hingshecandonowi sacceptherfateandstarta
newlifet ogetherwithherchi l
d."

At eencoul
dnothandl ethef i
nanci
alpressuretopr ovi
def orachi ld.
Ibelievet hatnot eeni s
readyforpregnancy,so t heyshould makean ef f
ortt o savet heirgolden t eenagey ears.
Teenager
scannotev en takecompl etecar eoft hemselves.Ther efore,theyar enotatal l
prepar
edtor ai
seachi l
dwhi l
etheythemselvesarest i
llchi
ldren.Teenagepar entscannotl i
ve
theli
feofty
picalt
eenagers.Theynocanl ongergooutwi ththeirf
riendswhenev ertheyf eelli
ke
i
t.Cari
ngforababytakes24hour saday ,sevendaysaweekandt hatmeanst eenpar entshav e
tobecompletel
ydedicatedt othei
rchi
ld.I
tisanotherlif
einthehandsoft wost rugglingteens.

Twot eenagersraisingachi ldishardenough, butimagineifthefatheroft hechil

di sn’tt
hereat
all
.I tisf armor ecommont hatthemot herwi l
lstrugglewi t
hr ai
singthechi l
donherown.
Accor dingtotheSout hwestCommuni tyHeal t
hCent er,“onl
yoneoutofev eryfiveteenmot hers
receives anysuppor tf rom t he chi
ld’sf at
herand about80 per centend up on wel f
are.
”
Pregnancycanbepr ev entedandy ouallknowhow,y oujustneedt odoi t.Therear eplentyof
options,suchasabst inence,condomsandor alcontr
aceptives.Thereisal waysthechanceof
contracept i
vesfai
ling,butt hatchancei sslimmert hannotusi nganypr otecti
onatal l.Theonly
surewayt oavoidpr egnancyi sabstinence.Thati swhyy ouneedt oreallythi
nkabouty our
fut
ureandconsiderwhet
heri
t’
swor
thit.
Deal
i
ngwithpr
egnancyisnoteasyf
ort
het
eensort
hei
r
parent
s.Par
entshaveahardti
meaccepti
ngt
hatt
heirt
eenispregnant
.