Friday, November 21, 2008 East Central Illinois

No longer a stigma to be a teen mom, but life still can be hard

By Jodi Heckel
Sunday, October 12, 2008 7:00 AM CDT

The twin bed in the teenager's pink bedroom shares space with a crib with Winnie-the-Pooh sheets. Pregnancy books are stacked by the changing table.

Caila Bishop is part teenager with a cell phone by her side, and part mother as she gently pats her baby's back when he cries.

Her pregnancy test showed positive the summer between her junior and senior years at Champaign Central High School, shortly before her 17th birthday. She had known her boyfriend, DeShunta Aikens, for some time, but only recently had she started to date him.

"My heart just dropped," Caila said of the moment she saw the results of the three pregnancy tests.

She stayed up all night, writing a letter to her mom, saying she was sorry. She wrote that she would take on the responsibilities of a baby.

And when her mother came home from work that evening, Caila cried as she handed her mom the letter she'd written.

"The words 'I'm pregnant' just flew off the page," said Penne Bishop, her mother, who'd been a teen mom at 18 herself.

This just can't be. Are you sure? she asked.

Not so hush-hush

Years ago, pregnant teens were whispered about. The girls disappeared to live with an aunt or in a maternity home, then returned to hope no one had noticed.

But these days, it's not unusual for pregnant girls to walk the halls of Central, Centennial, Urbana, Danville, Rantoul – and every area high school – and some middle schools.

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