Hi. Was anyone else here a young mother? I have noticed that even if you were not officially a "teen" when you gave birth, becoming a mother even in your early twenties has made some mothers the object of the "babies having babies" looks and unwanted comments. If so, any advice on ways to deal with that discrimination(I know no better word for what young mothers must deal with)? Has this come up in any way in your dealings with medical schools?

I had my first son at 20 and the second at 21. I have been called anything from a welfare rat to probably other mean things, I can't remember them all. I do look young though. Maybe younger than I am, I don't know. Ask wannabeMD on here, she has seen me. lol
I just have learned to do my thing and ignore people like that. I love my kids, and I want more eventually, and if that bothers people well, then they have a little too much time on their hands to be worried about people other than themselves.
I get looks of astonishment in school when I tell people I have 2 kids. I guess because maybe I don't look very old and I am young, I don't know. But, it is hard for me sometimes to sit and listen to other students talking about Partying and buying $350 purses. Sometimes I want to smack them. Oh, well...thats their life I guess. Mine is different and I wouldn't change it for the world.

I had my first right after I turned 18. I hadnt even graduated from HS yet, I did go straight to college (off campus) and all that. I have never recieved any negative comments, but I have not applied to med school yet. I was kind of wondering how Id be looked at. It could be good or bad. I did kind of think that my dtr's pediatrician assumed I didnt know how to be a mother since I was soo young (switched to another ped not too long after that) but I knew from the day I found out I was pregnant what my priorities would be--my child. I am/was a better mother that a lot of people in their 30's that I know. So much for that stereotype of being a young mother means being a bad one.

There was a nice article in Brain Child recently about teen moms - that challenged the usual stereotypes and media coverage on the subject.

not a teen mom but my girl will be heading off to college in about 8 years... and I am 32. I actually have never had anyone blink with those statistics - its the 2x married that gets them

I actually consider my stats in the child area a plus since the younger years are past me now and when I do finally graduate from med school, I will have an empty nest going on to some degree.

I became pregnant at 16. I've always been an over-achiever, so I had enough credits to skip my senoir year and graduate before my son was born. I started college when he was four months old and still nursing (more proof that teen mom = bad mom is not true). Well here am a first year med student and my son will be seven next month. I have a class of 280 students and when we were all gathered in Indy for orientation there was a student discussion panel. A 32 year-old-man, married with children, was on the panel talking about being a non-trad. student. He asked how many were married. About a third of the class rose their hands. With kids? Half the hands dropped. He moved on. During the Q and A session, I informed him that he forgot to ask for a show of hands of single parents and I asked if there are there any others. I rose my hand. I was the only one in my class! Everyone is really cool with me though. I'm at a center so there are only 17 other people that I see day to day. I only interviewed at one school but they seemed to be impressed by my scholastic achievements, MCAT scores, volunteer experiances, and the fact that I did it as a single teen mother.

First of all, congratulations to all of the successful ladies here!

You know, it often seems that folks think that it is "open season" to offer unsolicited comments about a woman's childbearing or marital status.

On the other spectrum of the childbearing issue, some of my youthful looking 40 year old friends have had their first child and might get comments as to whether they are caring for a grandchild! Other ladies I know, despite years of marriage, have struggled with infertility and get "grilled" about why they still are childless.

Well, not meaning to get entirely off topic, I just felt like posting some of my own observations.

I was not at all a teen mother when I had my son 2.5 years ago - but it sure was difficult. The very transition from the free spirited, party going, achieved professional, who is having a baby at ripe age of 30 - seemed very odd to many people who knew me, and I fell under their influence. It took me 2 whole years to get back my sanity, accept disturned sleep pattern, quit my corporate job which made me sick to my stomach, accept sagging breasts and enlarged abdomen ( yes, it stayed kinda big after my 10 pounder came out).

Thus, I commend teen mothers and all of those who have had courage to have kids early on in their lives. There is no way a child can make you anything but better - more patient, more loving, more caring and somewhat more vulnerable.

Perhaps naively, I view my being a parent as a big plus in my application to medical school. It makes me feel complete as a person, makes me feel accomplished,and makes me real to myself ( let's not get political now and think that I am saying that those without children are neither of these things - that is ludicrous). All I am saying, is that motherhood made me aware of what truly matters the most - my son's smile and hugs.

After all, moms make the best doctors!

I agree with that statement completely! Mom's and Dad's do make the best doctors! :yes:

I had my daughter when I was not quite 19 years old yet... and I've heard the phrase, "baby had a baby", many times before. I've also had wierd looks and comments said to me. How did I deal with those? I just ignored them... flat out. If I were to let it bother me, then my life would've been hell. I've had ppl try to discourage me from not only persuing medicine, but from taking a science major, etc... at times, it can get very trying to just shrug what these ppl say, when many times, these ppl can be your very own academic counselors, your aunt, a good friend...

I've learned to turn a cold shoulders to those comments as well. I may have decided to put medicine aside for now, for good reason, but being a young mother has certainly not impeded my path to where I am today. It probably won't in the future, either. I'm actually quite fond of being a young mom. There are, in my opinion, alot of positive aspects to it.