At the age of 23, Denise Laurel unexpectedly became a mother. For young girls who have gone (or are going) through the same thing, let Denise’s story serve as an inspiration.
“I was nervous when I found out I was pregnant,” she recalls. “I was almost four months already so I didn’t get any prenatal care.” Denise admits that she was scared, most especially on the physical aspect because she wanted her baby to be healthy. Also, she thought about the kids who looked up to her. “I don’t want them to think I’m teaching them the wrong things just because it happened out of order—I didn’t get married first then have a child. I want them to see the heart of where I’m going with this and why I’m doing this. I want them to see how I handle things instead of what happened. It’s the aftermath that I want them to learn from and not the timing,” she says.
As a young woman, her fears are no longer about putting her heart out there and getting it broken. “I’m afraid of not being a good mother and a guardian, like to not be able to give my son his full capacity and not be able to give him a full life. I don’t fear death but I fear leaving my son,” she admits.
Alejandro, who just turned a year and nine months, is Denise’s true love. “He’s part of my being. If not for that then I wouldn’t really be afraid,” she says.
Motherhood has changed Denise’s life in many ways. “I’m not as messy with my clothes as I used to be,” she jokes. On a deeper level, she says that she is blessed to know what real love is. “I’ve been given the gift to take care and to nourish someone, and to mould someone’s mind for the rest of his life. For some people, it might be scary or negative but for me, it’s something I thought I was meant to be doing,” she explains.
Know more about Denise Laurel’s experience with her no-holds-barred interview with Boy Abunda in Olay Conversations. Watch the full episode this Sunday, March 3, 2013 on Olay.com.ph and youtube.com/OlayPH
