Life simply isn’t going to go as we expect it to. This year has made that painfully obvious to all of us, but it’s always been true. And the better we are at adapting to that reality, the better we can not only face life’s challenges ourselves, but help others do the same.
For many families, the unpredictability of life can make itself abundantly clear in the form of an unplanned pregnancy. When a teenager goes through this, not only does the situation seem overwhelming in and of itself, but the way their parents can potentially respond is a source of anxiety all on its own.
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And that likely has a lot to do with why one mom’s TikTok has gained so much popularity.
On July 23, Nicole Hennessy posted a TikTok video that told the story of her 17-year-old daughter’s pregnancy.
In the clip , she details how she discovered some wrapping from a pregnancy test on the bathroom floor.
Although her daughter told her the result from this was negative, she convinced her to take another test just to be sure. This time, it told the teen she was pregnant.
As her TikTok expressed, Hennessy immediately responded by hugging her daughter and reassuring her they would figure it out together.
She also provided a thorough explanation of the options her daughter now had in front of her and contacted multiple professionals to help this discussion along.
As Hennessy would later tell Buzzfeed, “I told her I would support whatever she decides and I told her I’m sorry that the first real adult decision you will ever make is one of the hardest.”
This video has received over 14 million views at the time of this writing with 3 million likes and 23,000 comments.
In those comments were doctors, fellow parents, and other teens who were impressed and encouraged to hear that Hennessy had such an informative, supportive response to this surprise.
Sadly, others were from people in similar situations who didn’t have that same support and Hennessy tried her best to direct them somewhere helpful.
As she addressed in a separate TikTok, Hennessy also received many comments asking if she had her daughter’s permission to post her first one.
To this, she said she appreciated their concern for the teen’s privacy.
She also assured commenters that not only had she asked for her daughter’s permission before making the TikTok, but showed her the finished product before posting it to make sure she was comfortable with it.
Hennessy also made it clear that her daughter was educated on birth control measures and was using it at the time.
As she told Buzzfeed, “Birth control can fail, it is not 100%. Different things can also cause it to fail, like medications, getting sick, and so on.”
For this reason, she recommends using two different forms of birth control to prevent a pregnancy.
Hennessy later made yet another TikTok in which she went over the journey her daughter took in coming to a decision.
As the video explained, she ultimately decided to keep the child and is now expecting to have a boy in September.
As the teen, Angelina told Buzzfeed, “If I didn’t have my mom’s support, I know that this story would be a little different and I’d feel a lot more afraid than I am now.”
In both her videos and her statements to Buzzfeed, Hennessy encourages parents to be open and honest with the children in situations like this.
As she said, “The bottom line is: Do not be afraid to talk to your kids. Do not make it uncomfortable — just be honest and discuss facts. Teens want to be able to openly have serious conversations with their parents, so stop putting up walls. Put in the work and control your emotions to build that trust.”
h/t: Buzzfeed
