2 days ago
I'm a gran at 31 after my daughter & me both became teen mums, everyone said I destroyed my life when I gave birth at 13
A WOMAN has shared what it's really like being a teen mum and young gran.
Michele Dalton, a mum-of-four, gave birth for the first time when she was just 13 years old.
3
3
The mum, who grew up on a trailer park, said that she hoped her daughters wouldn't follow in her footsteps, but ended up becoming a gran at 31.
Speaking to Truly, Michele, now 36, said people told her she destroyed her life by keeping her firstborn but was determined to prove people wrong.
Now, she is a mum to four daughters; Alecia, Arianna, Addyson and Aliyah, and she became a mum-of-three at the age of 21.
She said: "Having my girls so young I truly feel like we grew up together so I was learning how to live as I was teaching them how to be little independent humans."
Despite having children so young herself, Michele never believed she would be a young gran.
"Never in my life did I imagine that I would be a grandma at 31 years old," she explained.
Alecia, Michele's eldest daughter fell pregnant when she was 16 and gave birth to Ivory Rose at 18.
"When Alecia told me she was pregnant at 17, my whole heart was shattered," the gran continued.
"I know what it's like to be a super young mum and it is never anything that I wanted my girls to experience."
However, Michele was quick to support her daughter throughout the pregnancy and be the best gran she could.
3
The mum said that she's happy her second eldest has no desire to have children.
"I call her my teen pregnancy cycle breaker because she graduated high school, she has no babies, she has zero desire to have any babies," Michelle said.
Despite the haters, Michelle loves her family and wouldn't change a thing.
The clip soon went viral with over 18k views on Truly's YouTube account and people were quick to share their thoughts.
One person wrote: "This is shocking just from my perspective because I'm 30 (no kids) and I feel like my life just started."
Another commented: "Well, I for one am proud of you! It looks like you've done a very good job indeed."
"She proved she can accomplish so much with school etc even with having three kids by 21. Never judge a book by its cover," penned a third.
UK Teen Mum Statistics
Teen pregnancies in the UK have been decreasing considerably since 2007...
The under-18 conception rate has decreased considerably since 2007, reports Nuffield Trust.
Between 2007 and 2021, the under-18 conception rate in England and Wales decreased by 68%, from 42 per 1,000 women to 13 per 1,000 women.
This resulted in 13,131 under-18 conceptions in England and Wales in 2021.
Meanwhile a fourth said: "16 is one thing, but 13? That's insane."
"That's scary, but she did a good job. Especially when she was raising the kid by herself. Everyone looks well taken care of,' claimed a fifth
