Teenage pregnancy is not the end of the world
Kristy Dazzel and her daughter
Kristy Dazzel and her daughter

JUDY (not her real name), sits on the stairway of her one bedroom home, gazing into the sky. With tears settled in her eyes and her hands propping her chin, she fights for words to tell the story of how she became pregnant at only 15 years old. It is not selective amnesia that is responsible for Judy’s difficulty to explain, but her worry on how she will provide for a life that will be in the world within the next six months has engulfed all her energies and so all she can do is sit and cry.

Leshaun Datterdeen and her daughter

Silence continued to engulf the atmosphere until Judy’s mother, who is a janitor, broke it with these words of hope,” I told her not to worry, as long as there is life, there is hope; if we all have to eat salt and rice, we will eat it and we will survive. She not throwing away no baby, and she is not dropping out of school. Is a mistake she make, and it hurt me because I tried my best to not let this happen, but I am not putting her out, I am not putting out my good for anybody bad, is my daughter and I will see her through,” her mother lamented.

A speck of hope sprinkled down Judy’s spine and as she rose her head, she was strengthened by her mother’s words of assurance. She began to speak. “I had dreams of coming out of poverty, getting an education, and becoming a teacher. I wanted to be the one to help mommy, now I feel like I am a big disappointment. I am only 15, still in Form Four and no money and my boyfriend gone back to his village. He came up to do road work and we started talking and then things moved from there. I am just so scared,” Judy said.

Judy’s anecdote is one that has been recited by many young girls who have big dreams but felt that getting pregnant at an early age has smashed them all. It is a phenomenon that has been plaguing our society for far too long. However, despite the numbers, there are many other young girls who have proven that they are not just another statistic and that getting pregnant as a teenager does not mean that the world has ended, with all hopes for a bright future lost and all dreams crushed.

Kristy Dazzel is one such young woman who has proven this and can be deemed a testimony for the many young girls who are wondering what their tomorrow will bring. At just 15 years old, Dazzel, who was a Fifth Form student at Mackenzie High School found herself pregnant with her first child. The initial feelings of shock, confusion and fear stepped in but only proved to be a little pothole on a thoroughfare of positives.

“I just kept doing everything as normal, somehow my mom found out and she took me out and what was to be one big question, turned out to be hours and hours of us talking. She asked me what I wanted to do and said abortion wasn’t an option,” Kristy related. With CSEC exams in a few months, Kristy was determined to sit her subjects and to be successful at them. With plenty of support from her family, she braved the gossiping at school and all of the other challenges that came by, just to realise her goal.

“I felt everyone looking at my tummy but I still tried to act normal, I was focused on doing well and proving to everyone that I may make mistakes but it doesn’t make me a stupid person. When I got my results, my mom was so proud of me; three ones, six twos and a three… I was even surprised at myself,” Kristy affirmed. Despite having to deal with all that comes with pregnancy; being sick, clinic visits, humiliation and 18 hrs of labour pain, her determination to be the best mom she could be surely paid off.

Today Kristy is not only the mother of a beautiful baby girl, Chanel, but a dedicated and wonderful wife and mother of two other sons. She also landed a job as a Technical Services Department Data Clerk at Bosai Group Guyana. Kristy said that she is happy she didn’t allow that little pothole called teenage pregnancy to ruin her entire journey of life. “I have a wonderful husband and two more wonderful children, that’s what makes me happiest.” While she raised a daughter at the tender age of 15, the now nine-year-old Chanel, she said, is brilliant, well mannered, healthy and loves to sing.

Giving similar testimony on winning the battle of teenage pregnancy was Leshaun Datterdeen who was a 16-year-old Fifth Former at Mackenzie High when she got pregnant. Feelings of depression and fear also stepped in but did not take her over.

Despite the humiliation she faced at the hands of gossip and teasing by judgemental classmates, she was able to sit her CXC exams and was very successful passing with two grade ones, five grade twos and a grade three. Today, she looks back on all the challenges she faced including an unsupportive partner and seeing all of her class peers progress to the Sixth Form level, while she stayed home to mother her child. Though her dreams seemed to be on hold temporarily, they were not completely washed away.

She was able to successfully complete Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and is today a trained teacher. “I have no regrets, actually having her at a tender age made me become more responsible, I couldn’t be the stay-at-home mother because the father was not very supportive and my only help was my mother. I got into college and I always wanted to become a teacher so I got to pursue my dream. I thank God every day for my daughter. Having her made me push more to pursue my career,” she summed it all up

As the old adage goes: “The race is not for the swift, but for those who endure to the end” and it can be very encouraging for all young mothers who may feel that being pregnant during their teens is the killer of all dreams. While time waits for no man, it never runs out and many such as Kristy and Leshaun can testify to success after the storm would have ended. Judy has been strengthened by these testimonies and has decided that the pursuit of her dream to become a teacher will not die. She is encouraging all other teenage mothers, to do the same.

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