by Jess Gray

Created on: January 23, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

I turn 21 in June this year. I feel older though. I am a mother of two. I had my first son 6 weeks before my 19th birthday.

Do I regret having a baby at 18? No. My son has brought me so much joy and opened my eyes to a different viewpoint of the world. The world is an amazing place when you see it through a child's eyes.

I had completed my final year of high school the year before I fell pregnant, so my mum was thankful I wasn't going to be a high school drop out. I actually fell pregnant in my gap year, the year most people take time off to figure out if they want to further their education, travel or work.

I met my partner two and half weeks after my 18th birthday. I knew he was the one as soon as we met. About 2 months later, I was staring at the pregnancy test kit trying to decipher the results of a test.

He was 19.I was 18. A lot of my family and friends thought he would ditch me. But nearly 3 years later we are still going strong. We even have our 3 month old son to prove we are going strong.

I am starting my first year of university this year. I am nervous, it's off campus. I have the discipline to do it; I just need to make time for it. If I pass and get my degree, I will be the first person ever in my whole family to get a university degree; I was the second person to complete high school.

My mum is very proud of me. She wishes she had the same options as I do, when she was my age. I have inspired her to look into going back to high school to get her high school certificate.

Being a young mum is hard at times; I can't just drop everything to go to some random party. I can't go out whenever I want. But these sacrifices I don't mind as I never was into partying, I'd rather watch a movie at home then party. It is hard when you get stares when out with your children when you are a young mum. I try to ignore them, some comments do hurt.

I believe young parents need more respect; they are no different to any other parent. Age is just a number.

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