[charmbraceletxo]

Hi Apples,

First and foremost, I'm sorry to hear about your situation--but, on a more uplifting note, I'm glad to know that this sexual terrorist is behind bars.

Forgive me for my redundancy, and I know that you already know this, but sweetheart, you are very young I have two younger sisters--one who happens to be your age (well, she's actually twelve--but that's irrelevant)--and I couldn't imagine her being in your situation. Please take my advice seriously and reconsider your decision. While you may honestly believe that you comprehend the difficulties associated with having a baby, I honestly feel that you're gravely underestimating the magnitude of the sacrifice, effort, and exhaustion that's inevitable if you decide to have/keep these children. Think about it, hon--by the time you're my age (21), your child will be 10 years old--nearly as old as you are now (it amazes me that in the United States you're legally responsible enough to have children at essentially any age, but you can't purchase or consume alcohol until you're twenty-one...anyway, I digress...). Imagine if your parents had had you at your age--they'd merely be 22 years old--and they wouldn't have been able to provide you with much of ANYTHING. How would you feel?--because, essentially, in deciding to have these babies (twins, you said?), you're really subjecting them to a life ridden with disadvantage--and that's not fair to them, much less is it fair to you. The babies' father won't even be around to offer you help/support--which is definitely a good thing in this case, but you're definitely going to require tons of extra help and support (which, I realize that your father and brother have offered to lend a helping hand, but still...).

I can't tell you what to do, and I anticipate that you'll lump my response in with the others (which are qualitatively-sound, by the way)...but please please please reconsider...or at the very least, ask your parents to set you up with some sort of a counselor/therapist so that you can wholeheartedly make sense of the seriousness of your situation and make new decision from there. You claim that you're excited to have these babies because you'll "finally have someone to love and who will love [you] unconditionally"--I don't mean to be forward, but that statement alone was pretty telling. I suspect that you've grown up with some degree of dysfunction/rejection--and a baby won't fix that It really won't--it'll just make your life really difficult (especially at your tender age). This is real-life stuff you're dealing with--and I don't honestly believe that anyone can truly prepare themselves for what parenthood brings, let alone someone with such little life experience (and I don't care what anyone says, cognitive development--like biological development--exists on a trajectory...and you're not mentally or physically developed enough to deal with this).

Please take care of yourself. Your post genuinely broke my heart--and I want to be here for you as much as possible. Please note that you're more than welcome to personal-message me--we can discuss this whole thing more in-depth if you'd like. I'm here for you, okay hon?

Good luck Please take my advice seriously--especially in terms of going to a counselor/therapist. They can really help you. I promise.