CNN iReport

I agree with several of your callers; teen girls who do not get love and attention at home are more likely to fall madly in love with an older (or slightly older) male. I did. When I told my mother I was pregnant, she offered these options: marry the father or move into a home for girls and give the baby up for adoption. The year was 1973, I was a 15-year old high school drop-out desperately in love with my new husband and father of my baby. Dirt poor, we lived in the housing projects not far from my single mother and siblings. Our baby girl was a few months old when her daddy split. My own mother would not permit me to move back into her home. She made it clear I would remain on my own saying, "it's your bed, now lie in it."  I went on welfare, my teenage friends babysat a few hours a week and I took classes to prepare for the GED exam. Later it was Community College and finally I graduated Cum Laude from a University, the only one in my immediate family to earn a college degree. My beautiful baby inspired me to make something of myself and pull us out of poverty.  Such an aspiration takes many years of endless committment.  Yes, we had financial stress and hard times. She and I grew up together...that's not an easy life.  But my child knew I loved her and cared deeply about what she was doing with her life.   Today I reflect on a great career spanning more than two decades, my income is (finally)  almost 6-digits.  My daughter is a joy to be with; she's a wonderful, witty, kind, ambitious young woman.  SHE beat the odds too, and today she is a college educated professional enjoying an impressive career with an ivy-league University.

Oh yeah, we're best friends too.

You've got to believe anything is possible. Even a teenage mother on welfare can make a better life if she wants it badly enough. My baby didn't hurt my chances, she made me want to be a better person.  While I regret that  she's never known the stability of a two-parent home...I have never regretted having my daughter, keeping her and raising her.

Proud Mom