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Melissa didn't mean to get pregnant. But now, after 12 years of living in the foster care system, she's trying to build the family she never had.
"The funny thing about a having a baby, especially a boy, is that he always pisses on me. Always. Any time I change him, he's always peeing on me. I don't know why. He's marking his territory. Like he says, 'This is mine.'"
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Piece Description
Melissa didn't mean to get pregnant. But now, after 12 years of living in the foster care system, she's trying to build the family she never had. "The funny thing about a having a baby, especially a boy, is that he always pisses on me. Always. Any time I change him, he's always peeing on me. I don't know why. He's marking his territory. Like he says, 'This is mine.'"
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Review of Melissa in New Haven: Teen MomNone of the absolutes I expected to hear from a Teenage mother, negative or positive. I confess that at first, I didn't sense I was going to hear anything new and then I realized my neck hurt from leaning in. The sounds made me feel so present in that little apartment and then: the diarist tosses off some cold facts and honest feelings with the same lightness she uses to describe her social life - it's absolutely disarming. But "disarmed" you are privy to the too many layers of life and feelings cloaked in the simplicity of such a young person. Nice work.
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Transcript
Melissa in New Haven, Connecticut: "Teen Mom"
TEENAGE DIARIES
Produced by: Joe Richman All Things Considered (NPR)
12/2/96
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: This is All Things Considered, I'm Robert Siegel.
NOAH ADAMS, HOST: And I'm Noah Adams. As part of our series, Teenage Diaries, producer Joe Richman has been giving tape recorders to young people around the country to document their lives.
Today we meet Melissa Rodriguez. Melissa is 18 and lives in her own apartment in New Haven, Connecticut. Her rent is paid by the state's Department of Children and Families. She's in a program designed to help young people from group homes and foster care learn to live on their own. As part of the program, Melissa holds a part-time job and attends a community college. In exchange, the state gives her money for basic living expenses, rent, phone bills, food and, now, diapers. This is Melissa'...
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Sarah Elzas
Posted on April 09, 2004 at 03:34 PM | Permalink
Review of Melissa in New Haven: Teen Mom
Melissa's story is unique, but it also brings out universal aspects of teenaged motherood: I listened to this piece with a teenaged mom and the instructor at her school, a high school for teenaged moms, and they both recognized a lot in this piece.
The story is well told and sound-rich with parts of Melissa's life, including even the birth of her child. Melissa is realistic about her situation, but it is clear that she is determined to be a great mother. This is a great piece to stand on its own, or in a series on youth or motherhood.