Jazmin was a high school senior with her sights set on a career in medicine, but Monday’s episode of “16 and Pregnant” showed her struggling to follow her dreams after an unexpected pregnancy.
As Jazmin adjusted to her new role as a mother, her own parents faced fresh challenges as well: namely, dealing with their feelings of betrayal after Jazmin broke the house rules and became pregnant. In response, Jazmin’s mom Teesha and her stepfather Brad hunkered down and refused to change any of the regulations that were already in place pre-pregnancy. Among the most restrictive: Jazmin and her boyfriend Dell couldn’t be alone without a parent present, and Dell wasn’t allowed in the house after 10 p.m.
“It’s hard because me and my mom are best friends, and having her trust is important,” Jazmin told a friend. She also worried that her parents’ rigidity would affect Dell’s relationship with their newborn Laila. “I just hope he has enough time with her — that time he wants and time he needs to get to know his daughter.”
But that didn’t happen. Dell’s busy work schedule often kept him from making the house curfew each night, and Jazmin began to yearn for his help with Laila so she could devote time to schoolwork. She also realized her relationship with Dell was disintegrating since the baby’s arrival. “It went from romantic to business really fast,” she admitted.
And Jazmin’s parents? They still wouldn’t budge.
“No visitation when there aren’t adults here,” Brad told Dell when the new dad asked for a rule relaxation. “It’s a trust thing. No sex. It’s just the rules of the house.”
Teesha agreed. “We are not willing to alter the landscape of our house just because you couldn’t exhibit self-control,” she told Dell.
That left Jazmin caught in the middle, struggling to maintain her relationship with Dell and, sadly, admitting that she had some regrets.
“Me and Dell thought we could co-parent together and figure it out on our own and be happy, but it didn’t happen that way,” she said. “The house rules are difficult because I want to gain [my parents’] trust back, but I want Dell to have as much time as possible. Before I had a baby, I treated sex a lot more lightly than I should have. If I could change anything, I just would’ve had Laila later in life.”
+ Do you think Jazmin learned her lesson, and should her parents bend the rules so that she and Dell have more time together? Take the poll and weigh in.
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