Making History: Teen Parent Lobby Day 2011

On Thursday I was fortunate enough to be part of the MA Alliance’s 12th Annual Teen Parent Lobby Day at the State House. As a member of the Teen Parent Policy Advisory Board (TPPAB), I along with fellow advocates and friends Anel Guzman, Jacklyn White, and Natasha Vianna were able to speak at the event and share in our experiences as former teen parents.

Teen Parent Lobby Day is an annual event held at the State House bringing together teen parents and teen parent programs all over the state to encourage legislators to support teen parents and the resources that directly affect them. This year was extremely imperative because for fiscal year 2012 Governor Patrick is proposing to cut all funding for the Young Parent Alternative Education. This is not an option!

It was a true honor to stand beside my fellow advocates and briefly talk about our experiences being teen parents, and the resources that were and were not available to us. None of us are teens anymore; nonetheless we still face judgment and scrutiny based on the fact that we gave birth to children as teens. This seems to outweigh all of our successes.

When does it stop? When does the judgment end? When can people look at us and see past our choice to have children at teenagers and see all that we have accomplished?

More than once people have assumed that my daughter is my younger sister. Raised eyebrows inform me of their surprise and red cheeks let me know that they think I’m just too young to parent. They seemed to focus on all the things I could not possibly have being a younger parent. They cared nothing about the fact that I was raising a loving and intelligent daughter.

It took me a long time to stop trying to prove my worth to others. I felt everyone knew I was a teen mom and was going to treat me differently because of it. I felt automatically inferior giving birth to a child at nineteen. I soon realized that if I felt people were judging me, then they probably were. If I thought I wasn’t going to succeed, I wouldn’t. If I didn’t believe in myself, then no one else would. It was up to no one else but me to choose my destiny. I had to figure out what I wanted out to this life, and what I was willing to put in to achieve my dreams and goals.

Tricia, the Director of the Alliance, spoke right after we shared our stories, and she said something that has stuck with me. She said that success of the TPPAB should not be an exception. And this is something that every teen parent needs to know and understand.

One of the messages we wanted to make clear at the State House is that the journey is ongoing. While all of the members of the TPPAB have pursued higher education and have gained some form of stability, we still face struggles and hardships every single day, and continue fighting the fight of being young parents, because we want more for ourselves. More for our children.

Thursday I made history. I wore my teen mom label, and I wore it proud. I stood proud of myself and my accomplishments and struggles. Knowing that all that I’ve been through has molded me into the person I am today. I stood tall knowing that I have managed to break through barriers and hardships and have continued going when others have given up. I stood tall knowing that I could help motivate and encourage teen parents in the audience to believe in themselves and their ability to be capable competent parents. Regardless of their age or current circumstances. 

Watch Alex and other members of the TPPAB speak at Teen Parent Lobby Day: