It takes a strong woman to bear the pains of carrying a child in her womb for 9 months. It takes a strong woman to raise a precious child. It takes a strong woman to love others more than herself. But it only takes a mother to become all these three.
This is the story of 17-year-old Danielle Gabrielle Rivera Mañez who became a mother at a young age. She shared her experience on social media, hoping for girls her age to realize that being a teenage mother doesn’t mean the end of their dreams.
Danielle is a smart girl. She has been a consistent honor student from prep until third year high school. Not only that she is witty, she is beautiful as well. In fact, Danielle had won beauty titles in pageants, trophies in quiz bees, and received many academic awards which made her family, teachers and friends to expect too much from her.
It was last September 2 during her boyfriend’s birthday that Danielle learned she was pregnant and will be having a baby soon. At first, she cried and felt depressed because she doesn’t know how her family and other people will take what happened.
Later on, she realized that the baby inside her womb is a gift from God.
Danielle’s boyfriend felt sorry for getting her pregnant that early not because he doesn’t love her but because he thought that he had caused her pain. But he never left her side which proved his real love for Danielle which made her even stronger.
Her pregnancy did not come easy because Danielle has arrhythmia, a medical condition in which the heart beats irregularly or in abnormal rhythm. But with God’s grace and blessing, she was able to give birth under normal delivery to a bouncing, pretty, healthy baby girl who they named Thiara Reign Mañez Cunanan.
Danielle and the father of her baby promised Thiara that they will finish their studies so they can give her a better future and make her proud for having them as her parents. The teenager also thanked her family and friends for loving and accepting her despite her flaws.
Knowing what she went through was not easy, she hopes teenagers in the same situation will not despair over their early pregnancy, but instead, make their babies as their inspiration to be able to cope with life’s challenges.
After all, being a mother is a noble ‘job’. One gets paid not with money but with love and insurmountable happiness!