For the last 2 weeks, I've been in Arica, starting my independent research project. My project is a comparative study between pregnant adolescents with and without indigenous (specifically, Aymaran) descent. The first week, I spent almost all of my time waiting around for people to get in touch so I could actually conduct interviews. It was definitely worth the wait.
At the end of last week, I spoke with 10 pregnant teens. Their honesty is disarming and I can't express how much of an honor it is to bear witness to rather personal aspects of their lives. As a random 21-year-old college student from the U.S., who isn't even fluent in Spanish yet, I'm surprised at times that they're willing to talk to me at all and I feel greatly indebted to them.
They are excited and nervous; they are planning on finishing school; they are single, in relationships, married; they have the support of their families, some more than others; they live with their mothers, or maybe their partners; they are first-time mothers or it is their second pregnancy; they have dreams, career plans, they want to travel; they are strong.
In a word, it's complicated. There's no one uniform teen mother experience, especially cross-culturally. Teen mothers are people, and they deserve to be treated as such. They are not cautionary tales or political bargaining chips. And honestly, they have me craving the whole heteronormative mess that is pregnancy (someday...) more than anything else I've experienced, even while reminding me that there is nothing normative about it. I'm sure I rolled my eyes, I didn't really even try to fight her on it.
Today, I also remember that I wouldn't be in Chile at all if not for my own mother. Among other things (like giving birth to me), she called my middle school guidance office to switch me into Spanish when I had signed up for French. My inner teenager is rolling my eyes at the thought of it, but I'm mature enough to admit that she was right. Happy Mother's Day!
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