I got pregnant at 13 – I had always looked down on teen mums until I realised what it was really like
A TEEN mum who fell pregnant aged 13 has revealed that she used to judge teen mums before she became one.
Maddie Lambert gave birth to little Everly Joy Lambert in January 2018 when she was just 14-years-old.
“I’d always look down on teen mums, if I’m being completely honest,” Maddie said. “I think that was just from a lack of knowing what it’s really like.”
The mum-of-one says she “gave up her childhood” for Everly.
Now 20-years-old with a five-year-old daughter, she believes teen pregnancy isn’t something to “look down” on people for.
Before becoming a mum, she wasn’t aware of the tribulations of raising a child and believed being a young parent would be filled with drama and negativity.
“Whenever you would see the media surrounding teen mums, you see the TV shows, and it’s just really negative and it shows a lot of drama,” Maddie told Truly.
“When I actually got pregnant, I was so scared of the reaction people were gonna give.
“I did get a lot of negative reactions, a lot of hate.”
People told the then-teenager that she had “ruined her life”, with one troll even wishing death on her.
“Everybody had something to say and they didn’t hold back,” she continued. “I had people send me the address to abortion clinics.”
Other girls at school mocked Maddie and put sports balls under their tops to mimic her bump when she was seven months pregnant.
Everly, who is now gearing up to start school, goes everywhere with her mum.
The pair, from Texas, US, regularly go on holidays, shopping trips and out for dinner.
“She is so mature and so sassy,” Maddie said about her little girl.
The duo started creating social media content when Everly was just four-months-old and have since gained 1.8 million YouTube subscribers invested in their lives.
Dad Isaac wasn’t present for the first ten months of the tot’s life but is now.
“So many people assume I’m a bad mum,” Maddie said. “But I have the same capacity to parent as anybody on this world.
“A good mum is somebody who drops everything for their child.
“I dropped my whole childhood.
“I do everything for that little girl. She is my entire world.”
As Everly is now starting in reception, Maddie has taken on a university degree – something she never thought she’d do after dropping out of school to focus on being a mum.
She has dreams of working in health and becoming a radiology technician alongside her career as an influencer.