Teen Pregnancy: One Family’s Experience

Many reading this might be parenting a teenager, and others have already been through the experience or are looking forward to this milestone. There are many choices that parents make when setting relationship boundaries for their children .

It is always interesting to hear real stories of parents who thought they were doing everything right and then are ‘blindsided’ when their teen informs them of a pregnancy. Bishop T.D. Jakes, pastor of a Dallas mega-church, has shared his memories of the time that his 14-year-old daughter came to him with the shocking news she was going to have a baby. What this story revealed to America was that it can happen to anyone, even when traditional values are preached every day. This story is an encouraging one for parents who are faced with this difficult situation.

Bishop Jakes’ daughter defied the odds by raising her child as a single mother, graduating college and later marrying. When asked what she would tell her son about her story, she said that she would be honest and communicate the blessing he was to her life but also describe that having a child as a teenager definitely made life more difficult. She would also add that if he waited, he could have ‘everything in life at its right time.”

Bishop Jakes and his daughter evade the question of involvement by the biological father.