Monday, February 21, 2011

16 and Pregnant

This show, and probably mostly this concept, annoys me.  While I do recognize the value of showing the beauty of life, the options that are out there for pregnant teens, and the American obsession with other peoples' lives, all in all, it annoys me.  Besides the fact that MTV is quite certainly and obviously capitalizing on this show (cover of OK Magazine last week: "Amber leaves Leah in the car while she shops!" Really.  She does?  How does that girl earn the right to procreate?) it seems that only one of the mothers has considered adoption.  Don't get me wrong, I could care less about the moral aspect, what kind of message it sends to teens, how glorified this whole thing is for these girls walking in to Algebra at 32 weeks along.  I'm angry that a sixteen year old girl can produce and I can't.  I'm angry that, besides the fact that I have to see women with too many kids everyday, a half-retarded hair obsessed, English language abusing, bratty little kid can pull off creating, carrying, and giving birth to a baby and I simply cannot. 

My anger isn't reserved only for Teen Mom, I'm also annoyed with Every 45 Seconds, a new Lifetime series featuring 3 couples in labor.  As a nice tie-in to my little rant, they did feature a 17-year old last week who is obsessed with texting.  She and her boyfriend apparently sent over 60,000 texts to each other last year.  She's texting the entire time she's being induced, during contractions, up until the point of pushing that baby right out of her.  Not basking in the joy of almost-motherhood, not rosy with excitement and the possibility, not nervous, just texting. 

Okay, so maybe it's jealousy and I'm just bitter, but come on.  I look around and I sometimes wonder how it's humanly, physically possible not to get pregnant. I know I am in the proverbial valley at the edge of an enormous mountain range called Mount You May Not Ever Hold An Infant Of Your Own, but I am dumbfounded by how easily it's done by others. 

I was at a baby shower a couple of weeks ago (aka my worst nightmare) and all of the girls were there talking about their babies or kids, some pregnant, and asking about each others' little miracles.  One girl was going on and on about her 3 boys and that she could "get pregnant the day she tried".  "Oh, that's awesome," I thought, "would you mind doing it today and giving it to me?"  Another chick bragged that she was on "freakin' Depo" when she got pregnant.  "Really.  Depo.  You were injecting yourself in order to ensure that you would not, by any means, get pregnant.  And you still did.  Get pregnant.  That's wonderful.  Really.  Mmm hmmm." 

I know there's probably some kind of plan.  I'm definitely not religious or spiritual (perhaps some would say maybe that's God's way of saying I need some faith.  Ha.) and I can't take back decisions I made earlier in life.  I do, however, have to pay for them and believe me, I am.  I'm somewhat backed in to a wall because it looks like, in order to have a child of my own, I will, quite literally, pay for those mistakes.  To the tune of $25,000 dollars.  The way I see it, I could have conceived when drinking heavily (and I do mean "heavily"), drugging, not sleeping, partying until 6am night after night after night, getting an HPV vaccination and being on the pill easier than I could now.  Now, with my very calm, at times boring, "healthy" lifestyle.

Irony is harder to swallow that a handful of prenatals, uber DHA, 10mg of Prednisone, 20mg of Prometrium and a baby aspirin.

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