Sofia Vergara Proves That Teen Motherhood Isn’t Always Horrible

Thanks to a certain MTV reality show, we have a lot of examples of teen motherhood gone horrible. We’ve seen depressing, heart-wrenching, infuriating and drama-filled episodes of young women who aren’t ready to become mothers, but somehow try to struggle through it. They’ve each had their own circumstances and some have coped better than others, but I don’t think anyone could watch 16 & Pregnant or Teen Mom and actually want to have a child at such a young age.

Let me say, I think that its a good thing that we’re seeing how difficult teen parenthood can be. I don’t want to encourage young people to start reproducing before they’ve graduated high school. But, I still think its nice to see a woman like Sofia Vergara speak out and say that life doesn’t have to horrible simply because you had a child young. The Modern Family star is on the cover of Redbook this month and she discusses what it was like to have a child at the age of 19. First of all, Vergara was married at the age of 18, so she was in a stable and committed relationship at the time, though they divorced later. Also, pregnant at 19 is very different from pregnant at 16.

All that being said, I appreciate seeing a successful woman showing that, “Hey, it can be done!” Not only can you struggle through it, Sofia says that there are some perks! “When I had Manolo, I was 19, and I had the energy for everything!” Now, Sofia and her son can often be seen in public and seem to have a very close relationship. I think Vergara’s story shows that while young motherhood isn’t always the optimal situation, that doesn’t mean it has to be awful.

Again, I wasn’t in high school when I had my daughter, but I was 22 years old and even that felt young. I was the first of many of my friends to have a child. I was often seen as a young mother, but your situation is what you make of it. Young moms have to grow up quickly, but that doesn’t mean that their lives will be horrible. Some of them rise to the responsibility demanded of them and go on to lead happy and healthy lives. Some of them even end up on the cover of magazines. Teenage pregnancy should not be a goal, but it doesn’t have to be the end of your goals either.

(Photo: Redbook)