By WILLIAM SANCHEZ, 17 and YEDID BARRERA, 15

William: I was 17 years old and my girlfriend was 14 when this story started. My girl was my life. I would see her in the morning, in the evening, and again at night. We were having unprotected sex all the time. I knew that one day I was going to get my girlfriend pregnant, but as long as that day didn’t come, I had no worries. After a while, we decided to go to the clinic close to my house for a pregnancy test.

Yedid: I was really shy. We went in and all the adults were just staring at us. I was so embarrassed. I remember me and my boyfriend sitting down waiting for them to call me. All we were doing was looking at the clock, feeling worried. When they finally called me, I was embarrassed, as if all the ladies in the waiting room knew I was going for a pregnancy test. When they told me I was pregnant, all I could think about was my mom’s reaction. I didn’t know how she was going to react but I was also happy that I was going to have a baby with the guy I loved.

William: I was happy when I found out my girl was pregnant, but worried too. I had so many mixed emotions I didn’t know what to think. I was really tripping on finding a job. I had the worst luck ever, but I wasn’t going to abandon my family. I was going to be there no matter the situation. We tried keeping it as a secret but that didn’t work.

Yedid: I came from school one day and found my mom crying. I knew she had found out. She said, “Tell me it’s not true. Tell me you’re not pregnant!” I didn’t know what to say. I felt so bad seeing her cry, it broke my heart. She kicked me out of the house. I didn’t know what to do so I called my boyfriend and he told me we had to tell his mom.

William: I told my mom my girl was pregnant and she got really mad. She told us to find our own place because we messed up. I was really sad because I didn’t have a job, and I wanted to buy things for my baby. I would fill out applications everywhere but they would never call me back. I would fall asleep feeling sad, touching my girl’s stomach hoping I would get a job one day.

Yedid: The days passed and my mom and my boyfriend’s mom both realized that a baby was coming. Then their attitude towards the situation changed -- they were happy. I wanted to keep on with my studies, but I just didn’t know how. While I was on the WIC program, they informed me about Project NATEEN and how they could help me out with my baby’s needs, and with my school. I decided to call and make an appointment. There I met Lily my social worker. She helped me enroll back into school.

William: While we were in the Project NATEEN program, I found out about Project D.A.D. I met a lot of guys going through the same situation I was going through. It was a big relief because I finally had the chance to talk about what I was going through. Javier and Edwin’s counseling really helped me out a lot. I learned a lot of things I didn’t know about being a dad. Those guys were my counselors and my friends too. Now that I have my baby, I have the chance to give him the love I never received as a young boy. It’s really hard being in school, but I’m still there and I still have time for my family. If I had any advice to give a teen, I would say: Stay in school and get a good career first, then think about having a family.

Yedid: After my baby was born, my life changed. Now every time I am going to make a decision the first two people that come to my mind are my baby and my boyfriend. I can’t go out to parties or hang out with my friends anymore, but the best job right now is being a mom and a wife. My advice to all girls is that even if you have a baby, you can still be someone in life -- NEVER LEAVE SCHOOL. It hasn’t been all bad being parents at a young age, it taught me responsibility and it also brought me happiness and love.

Re-printed from UNITY Magazine Fall 2005. Articles by teen parents and/or UNITY staff writers. UNITY is a magazine written by Youth of the Hollywood Teen Community Project.