Talking With A Teen Mom

  There were 641 teens that got pregnant in Spartanburg County in one year alone.  According to a new study done by the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, the United Way, Mary Black Foundation and Spartanburg Regional, the numbers are going up not down like they are in other Upstate counties. 
    To find out why, we talked with a teen mother. At 17, Cassy Brian is about to start her senior year of high school and her first year as a mother.

Cassy says, “It was a big shock.  I am the one person in school when everyone found out I got pregnant I was the one person they never thought would have. Great grades, on the right track supposedly.“

She says she never thought *she* would be the one.  “I knew I was doing something I wasn’t supposed to do.“

In fact, Cassy had been on birth control, but the weight gain associated with it made her stop taking the pill.

She says, “I wasn’t talking my birth control right and we weren’t protecting.“

Cassy is far from alone.  A study released by the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy shows in this state a teen gets pregnant every 55 minutes and nearly 200 girls 14 or younger got pregnant in one year alone.

Cassy says young people like her probably won’t be surprised by the numbers, “It is not as big of a shock for me being in high school because you see a lot of pregnant girls.“

It is part of today’s culture more than ever before.  In 2005, 641 young girls got pregnant in Spartanburg, 709 in Greenville and 371 in Anderson.

Like other parents, Cassy’s mother says she thought she prepared her daughter to beat the odds.

We asked Rhonda Brian what she would say to parents who think it can’t happen to their child. She says, “Oh please don’t be blind because I never thought it would happen to mine. “

Rhonda Brian says she and Cassy talked openly about sex and even went to a family planning class.

According to Rhonda, “You have to be careful and always protect yourself of course from STD’s and pregnancy.  We read pamphlets books, we seen videos.“

However, in hindsight her mother thinks cassy did show signs of things to come.

She says, “I had a very bad feeling that something was not right.“ 

She says it happened within a matter of weeks.  Cassy started dating a new boy, lying about where she was and who she was with.

Rhonda advises other parents, “Read their text messages read their journals.  If I had done that, I think I would have known and could have stopped it.“

According to Cassy, her mother’s actions wouldn’t have mattered. 

Cassy says, “The biggest influence on a young girl is her boyfriend. As much as women are strong and they can think for themselves as a young girl I think so many outside influences change the decisions that you make.“

Because of Cassy’s decision, life is now all about Issac.

She says, “A Friday night before I was pregnant I had my friends over to my house and we had loud music. Now it takes a lot of planning.  We have to make arrangements like 2 weeks ahead of time.“

She still has dreams of going to medical school one day, but for now this 17 year old is waking up to baby, high school and the idea having to get a job.
    Cassy has been working with the CARE program at the Upstate Family Resource Center to learn about parenting.  She is in school and plans on graduating with after this year.