Ashamed of becoming pregnant as minors after being raped, preyed on and engaging in sexual activities early, the thought of having an abortion crossed their minds as they believed their future was in shambles.

Now a 13-year-old and two 15-year-old girls, who are among the 585 teen moms enrolled at Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF) for the academic year 2021/22, are optimistic about completing their education and securing a better life for themselves and their babies.

The girls shared their experiences during an exclusive interview with the Jamaica Observer on Monday, as the nation continues to observe Child Month 2022.

One of the minors, a 15-year-old, gave birth four months ago.

She explained that her life was thrown into a tailspin when she got raped at age six by her mother’s boyfriend. Her mother abandoned her after that incident.

“I was scared after getting raped and I thought she wouldn’t believe me. She eventually called the police because I waited a long time for it to be reported. After being raped, I was told that she left me, and my godsister took care of me,” she said.

At that time she was living in Kingston, where she remained until age 10 when her mother returned and took her to live in St Catherine with her.

Unfortunately, her mother abandoned her again and at 13 years old she took the opportunity to stay with her boyfriend who was living in the same community. She got pregnant at age 14 and was ridiculed by residents in her community.

“It was shocking, I cried. I was to go to Champs [ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships] to do a race and I was supposed to do a drama piece to sing on stage, but nothing ended up happening that day when I found out about the pregnancy.

“My mom didn’t know I was living with my boyfriend, and my dad lived in Kingston. The people in my community knew she left me alone but they didn’t say anything,” said the teenage mom as she pointed out that when she became pregnant she was in grade seven and her partner was in grade 10.

“Everybody in my home town was saying, ‘Mi know she did a go get pregnant enuh because a the way she act.’ Dem tell mi say mi nah go mek it and how mi baby going suffer. They said I would get pregnant by time mi reach age 13,” the shy teenager told the Observer, her head held down.

Noting that her mother was shocked when she found out she was pregnant, the teen shared: “Mi mother did say, ‘Mi cya,an believe seh a dis you do mi,’ and mi cry and say, ‘Mommy, a nuh my fault,’” she recalled.

According to the teenager, questions have been unanswered about why her mother abandoned her twice, but she is determined to make ends meet, with her godsister offering some support.

“I didn’t know what to do, who to turn to because at first when I got pregnant I was thinking to do an abortion, but when I called my godsister she said, ‘Bring your baby because him can come be the next doctor, next prime minister or lawyer,’” said the 15-year-old who now lives at a children’s home.

It was a different story for the 13-year-old girl who is eight months pregnant, after being raped.

She told the Observer that she was impregnated when she was 12 years old by a man living in the same Portland community as her grandmother.

She had gone to spend time in Portland, hoping for a better life as her mother was struggling with her four siblings in a volatile Kingston community.

Her grandmother, who is a market vendor, would usually send her to the man she accused of raping her, to collect money.

“I was at the market sleeping one night and when I look the next morning, I never have on any clothes and I cried. And my grandmother asked and I didn’t tell her because I thought she was going to beat me. Sometimes I fret about these things because I cannot get in contact with him — I don’t even know his name,” she said.

“When I got pregnant, nobody didn’t know because I was slim. When I told my mom the first time, she did say it is a lie and she took me to the doctor to find out, because every time I ate, I would throw up. I was told that I was five months pregnant.

“My mom cried a lot because she did not want this to happen to me — she did even drop down. People were saying is man [boyfriend] get me pregnant. I always see that man fish out the young girls,” the 13-year-old disclosed.

She told the Observer that she is no longer embarrassed about her pregnancy and she has her eyes set on accomplishing her goals.

“I was saying I don’t want the child because I want to go to school. My mom said I can’t go to regular school as the other girls going to trouble me. I want to come out to something better in life. People told me I am not going to be anything in life, but I know I will. The people here [WCJF] tell me that it is not going to be bad for me and I can become a lawyer and come back and tell the girls what happened to me,” she said.

In the meantime, the other 15-year-old girl who is seven months pregnant had a different experience.

She told the Observer that a man living in the community would try to communicate with her when her relatives left the house during the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

On a day she didn’t have physical or online classes, she was lured to the man’s house, which is in the same Kingston community in which she lived.

“One man inna the community did like me. When him see me him say, ‘Pssst, yuh know say mi like yuh.’ Sometimes mi neva believe. He would be staying outside the barber shop and watch when my mother and mi father gone work and my sister and brother go school, and come to me up a the yard,” she said.

“Then one day him come outside a the gate and call mi and we go round him yard. When him did find out seh him get mi pregnant him run weh, and since weh day him come back and try talk to me,” she explained.

Her parents were devastated.

“Mi father did a tell mi fi dash it weh but mi aunty say mi fi carry it. My mother also told me I shouldn’t make this happen because dem did a look better from mi. Mi cry and nuh like talk bout it,” she said as her voice trembled while she teetered on the brink of tears.

“But mi mother did tell mi fi continue do weh mi have to because a no me a go be the first or the last, and she say me fi continue work hard — and is that mi a do that right now,” she said.

Counsellor at WCJF Georgia Thompson explained that the organisation tries not to blame the girls for being pregnant, as they experienced different situations.

“Some of them were raped, neglected or had financial challenges. Financial challenges is one of the major problems we have here. They would say ‘Miss, yuh know say mommy neva have it and mi did affi do something so mi can go school,’” said Thompson.

“Sometimes, as a teenager, you are finding yourself and what I get to understand is that these girls are coming from different schools and they would say, ‘Miss, nuh guidance counsellor never tell we about safe sex, the different types of STDs and STIs.’ I think we have to be very realistic and practical, because if we are not practical in showing our young girls and young men what is right from wrong, it’s not going to get better. Parents also need to communicate with their children,” she said.

Last month, United Nations Children’s Fund’s regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean Jean Gough cautioned Jamaica and other countries in the Caribbean that a spike in teenage pregnancies was expected due to the fallout from the containment measures which were put in place to curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus during much of the past two years.

Previous data from WCJF showed that there were 264 teen moms for the 2020/21 school year, 413 for 2019/20, and 518 for 2018/19.