November 25, 1992 WEDNE From 'n the last six years, there have been 70 babies born to Jeers mothers in Castlegar, some as young as 15. Kim Adamson, Coordinator for the Tender Care Infant Program, said more young mothers are choosing to keep their babies, and she thinks she knows one of the reasons why. “There used to be quite a stigma attached to young, sin- gle women a bering babies and keeping them, but it is Kristy Dorn Allen became one of those statistics when she discovered she was pregnant at the age of 17, but there is also the personal side of her circumstances, which statis- tics could never compiliate. With the certainty of the pending pregnancy, Allen real- ized that soon there would be a responsibility of great mag- nitude. A responsibility that would be hers alone, since the father of the child left when he discovered he was going to be a father. “As soon as the doctor told me the test was positive I started crying. I had such mixed emotions. Abortion was never an option for me. I realized then that I was going to : have a baby, and there was no changing that. I knew that I > had to start preparing for this baby. It was time to get seri- *! ous, no more fooling around.” The first person who was told about the pregnancy was :. Kristy’s father, Tim Allen. Kristy and her two sisters had ** been raised by their father since Kristy was four, and so it }- was natural that she confide in her father first. “ “I found that hard to do, I felt like I had let him down.” ? Although Kristy’s dad may have been disappointed, he ‘supported her through the entire pregnancy. = “Dad wanted me to move back home. He wanted to be :sure that I got the proper nutrition and care that was nec- essary for me and the baby.” He even went to Lamaze classes with her, and was by Kristy's side, holding her hand, when she finally delivered a boy...a welcomed and loved grandson for Tim Allen. Since her son’s birth, one of the hardest things that Allen has had to contend with while being a single parent, is unfair stereotyping. “A lot of people stereotype young moms. They feel that if you are a young mom, then you are a bad mom. I have friends who are also young moms, and we often hear rumors that are being said about us, such as we leave the kids alone, or we don’t know who the dad is.” Allen feels that the negative label attached to her is ungrounded and unfair. “It makes us feel so degraded, people make us feel like cheap sluts.” it