A MOTHER has revealed that she got pregnant with her first child at the age of 18.
Kai Slobert and her now wife, Dee, who met in high school, were both homeless and living in shelters at the time when they decided to have a child and conceive via a free sperm donor.
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Revealing all to Truly on an episode of My Extraordinary Family, the couple opened up on having a child while they were still teenagers.
Kai said: “I was homeless and I chose to have a baby.
“I would never promote it. It was just my situation at the time and I was young.
“I love kids, and I just decided to have kids on my own. Everybody’s circumstances are different, but the choice is yours, it’s your life.”
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When asked how they conceived, Kai reflected: “We decided to conceive by finding a donor that was free.
“We ended up finding him through Google search – I just put ‘free sperm donor’.”
The couple have been married for five years and their daughter, Kaidee, is now five years old.
They also have a second daughter, Faith, who is three.
Mum-of-two Kai opened up on how her parents reacted when they first discovered she was pregnant.
She shared: “They weren’t very pleased when they found out I was pregnant at a young age.
“They wished I waited a little longer before trying considering the situation I was in.
“It was hard because me and her were separated at first, so it was just me in the pregnancy shelter.
“It was my first experience being pregnant and I was alone.
UK Teen Mum Statistics
Teen pregnancies in the UK have been decreasing considerably since 2007…
The under-18 conception rate has decreased considerably since 2007, reports Nuffield Trust.
Between 2007 and 2021, the under-18 conception rate in England and Wales decreased by 68%, from 42 per 1,000 women to 13 per 1,000 women.
This resulted in 13,131 under-18 conceptions in England and Wales in 2021.
“When Kaidee was born, I was still homeless, I was in the shelter, by myself.
“Then a few months later, my wife came along with me and we stayed there for a few months until we got our apartment.
“Our circumstances have changed drastically since then, of course we’re not homeless any more.”
Both of Kai and Dee’s children are aware of how they were conceived and refer to their donor siblings as ‘diblings’.
I was homeless and I chose to have a baby. I would never promote it. It was just my situation at the time and I was young
Kai Slobert
Now, the family share their life on social media, but while they have been met with a lot of positivity, they have also found themselves at the heart of harsh judgement.
As well as comments about being homeless when they had Kaidee, they have received negativity about being a two mum family.
They have even been told ‘18-year-old homeless couples shouldn’t be having kids’ and ‘this should be illegal’, by cruel haters.
Here’s why I love being a young mum
Tracy Kiss, who fell pregnant at 19, has revealed what she believes are the pros of being a young mother.
The personal trainer and blogger, from Buckinghamshire, believes women who give birth in their teens make BETTER mothers than those in their 30s.
She claims young mums snap back into shape quicker, have more energy and relate more easily to their children, meaning they’re better behaved and happier.
Tracy told Fabulous: “Women who become first-time mums in their teens make better parents than those in their 30s or 40s.
“I believe if I’d been 10 or so years older before becoming a mother then I wouldn’t have the relationship I have with my children now.
“For a start, being older I would have had less energy and therefore less patience.
“I wouldn’t be as enthusiastic to speak to people after months of sleepless nights as I was in my teens.
“My body snapped back to its pre-pregnancy size through fitness post-birth, which in turn gave me the confidence to date and find love again. I’ve never been happier than I am now at the age of 30 with two children.
“If I’d have been alone at 40 with a newborn baby I’d be more tired, less happy with my body, less energetic and far more stressed from the shock of living my life for myself instead of putting others first. Sometimes age and the innocence of ignorance is a good thing.
“As a teen mum I just got on with it, found my feet and became responsible and capable because at the time I didn’t know any different.”
Despite this, Kai and Dee hope the future holds a lot of success and happiness as well as more children, as Kai said: “We are in the process of trying to conceive for not one, but two more and hopefully conceive at the same time and be pregnant together.”
The couple hope sharing their story clarifies and corrects some misconceptions, as Kai recognised: “We hope that people learn that, for one, we are not an 18-year-old homeless couple.
“We are now adults that have lived and learned.”
Big divide
The YouTube clip, which was posted just one day ago, has clearly left many open-mouthed, as it has quickly amassed almost 10,000 views.
But viewers were left totally divided – whilst many were complimentary, not everyone was as kind.
You shouldn’t put your selfish desires over your child’s quality of life
YouTube user
One user wrote: “They’re doing a good job with the girls.”
Whilst a second penned: “Very sweet couple.”
However, at the same time, another person said: “You shouldn’t put your selfish desires over your child’s quality of life.”
Meanwhile, another added: “How selfish. They are not financially secure, but they want to add more kids. This is so sad.”
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