What Will You Do If Your Young Daughter Got Pregnant?

I got the chance to talk to a dear friend today who until now is still very devastated about her daughter's unexpected and untimely pregnancy even if the baby is already six months old now. Well who would not be, when your daughter was just few months to graduating from school and then decided to quit out of shame? So that's a double whammy right there. Well you see the culture in the Philippines being a predominantly Catholic country is, getting pregnant without the benefit of marriage is taboo. Also expect to be the talk of the town by gossipers once seen in public with growing tummy and no wedding to speak about. It's like you owe every people you will encounter an explanation on how and why it happened. Out of shame my friend had considered taking her daughter to a far away place to shield her from the probing eyes of nosy people and then reappear with a new addition in the family. But do you think that would have saved them from gossips, nah ah, that will just induce another topic for conversation by the gossipers.

Anyway, my take on this issue is, in as much as you can not undo what has been done already, and marriage is definitely not the solution to the problem (the daughter is not willing at this point to marry the guy as she wants to finish school and hopes to work abroad, which was the original plan in the first place) then you just have to accept the situation. Ignore what other people will say about you, as it is not their business to judge you based on what happened. It's not a reflection at all on what you are as a parent if something like this happened to your child. My friend didn't falter in any way as a mother, she did everything she could to be there for all her kids when her husband is away earning money for the family. In fact I admire her for being such a hardworking, dedicated, loving and caring mother.

But children, you mold them with good words and examples and then you set them free in this world to take their own journey. As you set them free you also let them make their own mistakes and choices to mold them and make them better individuals. Parents can only do so much for their children, if children make wrong choices along the way, then it's not the end of the world for everybody. Just let this chapter in their life be a learning experience for everybody.