Stories From Other Teens

Here are some stories about what other abused pregnant teens have gone through before they called Jane's Due Process for help. Call us at 1-866-www-jane, and we can help you, too.

"My father has beaten me. He put me in a convent for 6 months for smoking. My cousin was sent away from her family when she got pregnant because she wasn't married. Can you imagine what my father would do to me for this? He's also threatened to hurt my boyfriend."
- 17 year old Vietnamese girlfriend of Chinese teen

"Well... once my mother hit me in the face with a frying pan. Does that count?"
- 17 year old's response regarding how her mother has responded in the past when the teen came to her with a problem.

"My mother's boyfriend used to hit her and sometimes I would try to stop him, but then he'd start hitting me. I left home to live with my boyfriend when I found out that I was pregnant the first time. My mother wouldn't let me have an abortion, so I knew a baby would be safer living away from her and her boyfriend. But my boyfriend started hitting me as soon as I moved in. So, I got my own place, a car, and two jobs. I'm pregnant again, but I can't tell my mom because she would try to stop me from getting an abortion."
- 17 year old high school graduate and mother or 2 year old daughter, father deceased.

"Yes, my mother has told me more than once that if I get pregnant, she will beat that baby out of me. I believe her!"
- 17 year old who chose to have her father notified instead of her mother

"When I told my dad I was pregnant the first time and that I wanted to have an abortion, he told me that it would never happen. He said that I needed to be punished. He told me I would have the baby and that he would beat me for the next 7 days. For 7 days, he beat me with his belt. After I moved out, he used to come by my house and yell me 'to get ready' as he took out his belt so he could 'punish' me more."
- 17 year old mother of 3 year old with a second pregnancy

"My older sister got pregnant when she was 17. I was in the kitchen when she told my mother. My mother pushed her against the wall, slapped her across the face, and then grabbed her by the hair, pulled her through the living room out the front door and threw her off the porch. I don't know where my sister is now. I'm considered the good daughter. But I know what my mother is capable of."
- 16 year old living with a single mother

"My mother has my brother beat me (when I need to be punished). For this (pregnancy), she will send me away (back to Africa) after he beats me."
- 17 year old Nigerian immigrant

"My mother has never left my father. She knows about (domestic violence) shelters, but she thinks she can wait until all of us kids are grown. I'm the eldest. I keep hoping that before I graduate from high school I can convince her that we are strong enough to leave my father."
- 17 year old Korean immigrant who fears that if her mother is notified by the clinic about her pregnancy, she will tell her father who will then beat her mother.

"I've tried calling the police. Every time they just rip that phone out of my hand, and I don't have a chance."
- 16 year old whose parents are deceased and is living with her grandparents who serve as her legal guardians. Her mother left home when she was a 16 year old pregnant teenager because of the ongoing violence.

"The last time (my father) hit me was when the phone rang at midnight (a few moths ago). He thought it was one of my friends. I was in my bed, and he started to hit me with the phone until it tore out of the wall. But I didn't have to go to the hospital that time, so it wasn't reported."
- 16 year old who reported that when she discovered she was pregnant she decided not to return to her home, school, or job for fear her father would find her and beat her for the pregnancy.

"Yeah, they (child protective services) know our family really well. They've never done anything to help."
- 16 year old living with a physically abusive father

"She can't report anything to the police about what her step-father does to the family. He works for the department. And this is a very small town. The family seems to live in fear of him."
- boyfriend of 15 year old pregnant teen

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