By Jessie Schirrick Posted December 1, 2012
The shows “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” have revolutionized reality TV and taken the adolescent entertainment industry by storm. These powerful documentaries about teen girls making the ultimate decisions and life-changing sacrifices has had such a positive effect on the teen pregnancy rates throughout the country.
“Teen Mom 2” follows the lives of four young mothers, Jenelle, Leah, Kailyn and Chelsea as they struggle to raise their children while they are only children themselves.
Jenelle lives on and off with her mother, Barbara, and her son, Jace. She and her mother clash almost all the time causing great distress in their relationship. A lot of the problem has to do with Jenelle’s boyfriend, Keifer, because Barbara believes he is a bad influence, leading Jenelle to do drugs and behave recklessly. As a result, Jenelle has been kicked out and moved back in more times than anybody can count, leaving Jace caught in the middle of all the destruction. However, in this season Jenelle is fresh out of rehab and ready to turn her life around.
Leah faces double the challenge as she gave birth to twin girls, Aliannah and Aleeah, one of which has a development disorder that requires special attention and millions of doctors’ visits. Not only must Leah find a way to take care of her children, she also has gone through a turbulent relationship with her ex-husband Corey. The two had only been dating a month when Leah discovered she was pregnant with their twins, and after Corey’s neglect and Leah’s infidelities, their marriage only lasted six months. In the new season, Leah is still trying to get over her love for him.
Kailyn is the proud, hard-working mother of her son, Isaac. The 20-year-old maintains two jobs and manages to go to school full time. She doesn’t have much support from her mother who abandoned her in her crisis or her baby’s father who has a new girlfriend of his own. Kailyn has been through a lot what with a custody battle, a car accident, and finding a place to live. She appears to never give up no matter what for the good of her beloved son.
Chelsea is the doting mother of Aubree and insistent ex-girlfriend of Adam. Chelsea has a lot of financial and emotional support from her parents who have been helpful enough to provide her with a house and babysitting services while Chelsea keeps a job at a tanning salon and studies to earn her GED, all while trying to convince her baby’s father to stick around and support his family. Chelsea seems to be hopelessly in love with him as she sees past his multiple one-night stands with countless other girls. While her family and friends will do anything to keep her from talking to Adam, she is always open to him coming and going into her life as he pleases. She says she just wants her daughter to have a father figure.
” Teen Mom” is chock full of drama and triumphs as it illustrates the traumatizing experience of teen pregnancy. It’s on every Monday night on MTV at 9 p.m.
