Teenage Pregnancy

Last Updated: Monday, 10 December 2007, 12:13 GMT

Pregnant at 13, mum at 14, GCSEs at 15

As calls are made for sex education to be compulsory in all schools Kizzy Neal, 15, is one teenager with a lot on her plate - exams, boyfriends and looking after her seven-month-old son.
She was in her best friend's bedroom when she found out she was pregnant, in the summer of 2006. She was 13.
"I didn't stop crying for three weeks and I was really, really scared," says Kizzy, who is now 15. "I knew I'd done something wrong. Thirteen is not the ideal age to have a baby."
She had been fearful after having sex for the first time, unprotected, with Louie.
"Since I got pregnant, I've learnt so much about contraception, abortions and sex but at school I think I had so few sex education lessons."
While the father of her child rejected being a dad and moved away from Torbay in Devon, Kizzy never considered having her pregnancy terminated.

Kizzy: Mum at 14 As it went on, she became the target of abuse from people. She was spat at and her brothers were attacked because, her father Kevin believes, she chose not to have an abortion.
She lost friends because of her pregnancy, but the girls who had abused her changed their behaviour after she had baby Kaylib in May.
"When I was pregnant it was like 'You little so-and-so' but when I had the baby they were round the pram saying: 'Isn't he beautiful?'
"It was a bit two-faced. Without a baby I didn't want to go out of the house and I was scared, but as soon as I had the baby, the people I was scared of were coming up, being really nice to me."
The birth itself, in May, was the best moment of her life, she says.
"When they put him on my chest, I was so overwhelmed, you don't know whether to smile or cry or laugh or scream, you don't know what to do. It gives you a warm feeling in your tummy."
Sacrifices
From that moment on, says Kizzy's mother Kerry, who is in her 40s, the atmosphere changed. "There was so much negativity about Kizzy having the baby in the first place, then when he was born there was so much joy and excitement and everyone loves him."
Kizzy returned to college in September, leaving her mother to look after Kaylib while she studies for six GCSEs. She wants to be a member of Parliament but if that doesn't happen, to be an occupational therapist.
But although Kizzy may look like any other student in the classroom, she is constantly reminded of her responsibilities as a parent because of the sacrifices she has to make and what she describes as her lost childhood.
"I miss being able to get up and go out when I want to and doing teenage things. I can't do these things as much anymore but I do get help from mum and dad so I get the chance to be a child as well as a mum."
It's hard to let go of your childhood
Kizzy Neal
She has made a programme with BBC Three about her experience to show other teenage girls that motherhood is "not all about cute babies, it's hard work.
"It's hard to let go of your childhood, you have to break away from that, you have grow up really fast, you have to mature quickly. It's hard getting to grips with being a mum and how to look after your child the best you can."
It's even harder without a father, and earlier this year Kizzy took Kaylib to Southend to meet his dad. On her way home, it struck Kizzy that the two probably wouldn't meet again.
"I was thinking about the baby growing up without a dad and thought I'd let him down. It's ideal to have a mum and a dad and to have a proper environment but it's very different for me. He's got as much love as he needs, even without a dad."
abridged and published :

By Tom Geoghegan BBC News Magazine