Cultureshock

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Video transcript

I fell pregnant at 14. It was March when I found out. I had been trying for about 2 to 3 months. It was still hard telling my partner but when I did, he was chuffed. Against what people had been saying about this, I couldn't have cared, they'd never lived my life, they didn't know what was going through my head, they never knew why I had to grow up so fast from being a bairn.

I went through difficult times during my pregnancy. At 16 weeks gone my granda passed away, which was really heartbreaking. He was more like a dad, I even called him dad!

At my scan, I was 18 weeks gone, they told me I was having a little girl. The scan was in the same hospital in which my granda had been fighting for his life. It reminded me of visiting him. At that moment it came to me - her name: Georgea, after my granda George.

I gave birth to Georgea on the 28th of December 2008 14.44, the best moment of my life. We went to the council when Georgea was just 2 weeks old. It was winter, snow on the floor. We were homeless. They denied us housing, told us we were young enough to survive on the streets. So we had to move back in with Kenny's parents.

When Georgea was 4 weeks old, we saw an ad for a 2 bedroom house to let. It was too good to be true. The house was beautiful. I was over the moon, never felt so good. So we borrowed the money, moved in a few days later, making plans and decorating Georgea's nursery.

Julie, from the young woman's project, got me grants to help for temporary furniture. We were only living off 40 a week; baby food, baby milk, our food, dog food, washing up powders, etc. Bairns alone cost up to 25 pounds a week.

A few months on - Georgea's 6 month old at this point and my 16th birthday. I spent the day at Conexxions, but it was well worth it. Within 2 weeks I was getting my income support, it was a massive help.  A few weeks passed, and we were eventually receiving child tax credits. Finally - things were falling into place.  Now Georgea's nearly one. We're still living in the same house, feels like home now, everything's just how I want it. It's only 3 weeks till Christmas, and my little princess has everything. The best gift I will receive this year will be the beautiful smile on my gorgeous daughter's face.