Mom Chloe Toombs determined to succeed
Chloe smiles brightly at her four month old daughter Eden and whispers to her that she loves her. Eden’s face brightens up at the sound of her mom’s voice. She bounces around a bit and giggles, showing off her toothless, gummy smile to the world.
Chloe Toombs was 16 when she had her daughter Eden Grace on July 6, 2015. She is now a senior and attends the alternative learning center.
“I was shocked, I did not think it would be me, but it can happen to anybody,” she said.
Minnesota ranks number six in the United States of America at 16.4 births per 1,000 girls under 18.
How it affected her:
Teen pregnancy and child bearing bring huge social and economic costs through immediate and long term impacts on teen parents, their children and those around them.
“I lost most of my friends in a matter of a day. The whole school knew and that freaked me out,” Toombs explained.
After discovering she was pregnant and with the reactions of her peers she made the decision to switch to the Alternative Learning Center.
“My morning routines have not changed much, they have just been altered around her. It is wake up at 4:00 in the morning, eat, sleep until 7:00 in the morning wake up and repeat. On the days I have school I start the routine, and my grandma finishes it for me while I get ready and go to school,” she said. She talked about her night routine which usually consists of homework and play time with Eden.
“I am blessed to have such an amazing support system. My grandma, I really love her. She helps me when I need a break,” she said. Chloe currently lives with her grandmother and her younger brother who attends Oakland Junior High School.
“I am much more happy. After two years of struggling with depression, I look at the world differently now. I am constantly happy,” she said smiling brightly down at the bouncing baby in her arms. She does not regret Eden in fact she said that Eden has been a huge blessing to her and her family,”If I could go back in time, I would not change a single thing, I am the happiest I have been in a very long time,” she said once again looking at Eden with a massive smile.
“School is going really good. I am getting all the credits I need and I am working my butt off to graduate,” Toombs said. ” I feel like people think we can not achieve certain goals. We can not finish high school or go to college. I am going to prove you guys wrong, ” she added victoriously.
Only 1/3 of teenage moms complete high school and receive their diploma. By age 30 only 1.5 percent of teenage mothers get their college degree, Chloe wants to beat all of these statistics and she is determined to do so no matter how much work it may take.
I have always wanted to be a nurse, I love helping people. Even after finding out about being pregnant with Eden it did not change my mind at all.
— Chloe Toombs
“It is basically constant play time. When I am with her she does not cry much only when she is hungry, ” she added holding up Eden’s bottle to see if she was hungry. At that moment, she was not.
“I have always wanted to be a nurse, I love helping people. Even after finding out about being pregnant with Eden it did not change my mind at all,” Toombs said. She wants to create a good life for her and her daughter even if Eden’s father is in the picture or not. She feels that a man is not needed when raising a child especially if he does not want to be part of the child’s life.
“He is Eden’s father and I would never keep her from him. I am not ever going to do that. He is choosing this, not me,” Toombs said with a sad smile on her face. ” I am sad. She is currently four months old and he has only seen her once. She is growing up so fast and he is missing out,” she added commenting on Eden’s father who currently is not involved with Chloe or Eden.
79 percent of teenage girls who become pregnant are unmarried; Eight out of ten fathers in cases of teen pregnancy don’t marry the mother of their child, and these absent fathers pay less than $800 annually for child support. Children who live apart from their fathers are also five times more likely to be poverty-stricken than children with both parents at home.
Her advice to others:
“Do not be afraid to take the hard road. Yes it is difficult but I do not regret my choice to keep Eden at all,” she said giving her advice to future teen moms.
“They think that we are too young to have kids, that we are not ready, but you are never really ready. No one is, but they choose to believe we are bad parents and that we are glorifying it. Clearly we are not. ‘Teen Mom’s’ is about real life and real situations. It is upsetting, but everyone should know about it,” Toombs said.
Taylor spends most of her free time reading, writing and spending time with her family. She spent most of her summer at Taco Bell probably eating too many...
Grace Donner • Feb 17, 2016 at 4:59 am
Good quotes from Chloe, it was nice to know the perspective on the baby’s father. Also you showed both the emotional and mathematical sides to having a baby which helped put things into perspective. Good job!
Lauren LeBourgeois • Feb 16, 2016 at 4:42 pm
This article was very educating. I learned a lot about Chloe’s lifestyle and how it has changed since she had her baby. The facts are really good too, I can tell you did a lot of research. There were a few small editing errors that could easily be fixed. Overall great article!
Jared Taylor • Feb 15, 2016 at 1:07 pm
One of the best articles I have read. It gives a such descriptive details about her life as a teen parent. Also the quotes are great and the overall presentation of the article was excellent. Great job Taylor
Karisma Vang • Feb 8, 2016 at 7:44 pm
I enjoyed this story greatly and loved all the positivity you put in the story. The story itself is powerful how she was able to overcome everything and the way it was written, it was like from her eyes and you could really feel emotion in the article!
Sarah McCarthy • Feb 8, 2016 at 5:20 pm
Taylor, the tone you used throughout this article was incredibly optimistic and even more inspiring. The quote choice and order you put them in all worked very well together. I could easily become invested in this article due to the personal student perspective. It is easy to tell you put a lot of quality research into the article, and it resulted in an interesting, different, and new story. Great job overall!
Kleio Vrohidis • Feb 8, 2016 at 1:48 pm
Nice job, Taylor! I really liked how you used imagery in the lead, it felt like I was right there watching Eden. Your quotes showed detail which made me want to keep reading. It was interesting to know about Chloe’s life. Great article!
Annie Seiler • Feb 8, 2016 at 7:34 am
I enjoyed reading this article very much! The introduction was very great with lots of detail that characterized her very well and made the reader understand the background information. The format of the body was laid out very nicely, but I think that it lacked a lot of deeper information that it could have had. It touched on the surface area of her life but did not go into a lot of detail. Overall, great article!
Rachel Zinkgraf • Feb 4, 2016 at 2:03 pm
You narration in the very beginning was perfect and really set the scene for the rest of the story. It was a great idea adding titles to the different parts of the story. The statistics added a lot of info to the story and the quotes make me understand the context of the story perfectly.
Joslyn Reiche • Feb 3, 2016 at 6:15 pm
I liked the article! But I feel that some of the information I could have gotten was missing till the end. There were a few facts here or there, but I would have liked a little bit more info. I kept reading because the topic was interesting. I liked the end information because it keeps people hoping that they can get through hard ties that are easier, just as hard, or even harder to keep on going!