One of my closest friends just revealed to me a few days ago that he may have gotten a girl pregnant. My friend is 21 years old.
The news came to me just like a shock. Fatherhood? At the age of 21? I happened to be only a few months older than my friend. That was so weird!
Thinking about it, I guess this sort of thing shouldn't be a shock to me anymore. I've lived in the big city all of my life and there are already a countless number of my contemporaries who have willingly and otherwise launched themselves into roles of paternity. Some of them have gotten married, doing the right thing and living up to their responsibilities. Some however have gone on to living like they always did... seeing nothing past the tip of their penises. And still, a lot of them ended up like me... snot-nosed and totally inexperienced in the intricacies of courtship and love. These things happen.
In my part, I find it hard to imagine myself being a father at this young age. I don't think I possess the maturity nor the financial stability to be a functioning and capable husband and father. After all, I'm still very dependent on my folks. My mom still drives me to school and I still ask my weekly allowance from my dad. Me? A father? I think I'd go nuts.
I wonder what is going through the head of my friend right now. I know he and his girlfriend are considering a lot of options... abortion being one of them. At this early stage, his girlfriend is not yet even sure if she's really pregnant. But what if she is? What would they do? Will they make room in their lives for this baby?
A lot of thoughts must be running through my friend's head right now. Will he be able to support the baby? Does this mean he has to get married now? What if he and his girlfriend weren't meant to be together? How much will it cost to have an abortion? Will he really go to hell if he gets his baby aborted? What will happen to his dreams of living la vida mocha while he's still young, handsome, and assuming? How will his family take this news? How will his girlfriend's family take this news? Would it be a wise time to buy a bullet-proof vest?
All these complications just because he couldn't keep his pecker in his pants. It's times like this that I'm glad I'm a geek when it comes to the opposite sex.
I just hope my friend does the right thing, and when it comes right down to it... if his girlfriend really is pregnant, I hope they keep the child. Someone as little and as innocent as that shouldn't be the one to bear the consequences of his/her parents indiscretions. And no matter what anyone says, I believe that future complications shouldn't be a justification to take anyone's life... unborn or otherwise. Imagine that fetus being three years old and you just decide to take his/her life away from him/her.
Now tell me again why it's better off that he/she has to die in order to spare him/her from a life of hardship.
Yes, I find it hard to imagine someone being 21 years old and facing those kinds of decisions... or any age for that matter. At 21, life has just begun. You're now old enough to party like it was 1993 and you're still young enough to enjoy going to those kinds of parties. At this age you shouldn't be worrying about where you're going to get the money to buy a bottle of infant's formula. Heck, at this age, you should be the one suckling for breast milk, instead of competing with someone who needs it more than you do. But these things happen, and if you're really a man then you should stand up and be responsible for what you've done.
I don't know. I can't really claim to understand something like that until it has really happened to me. All I know is that tomorrow, I'm going to wake up and have my mom drive me over to my review school. In my wallet will be a crisp hundred-peso bill that my dad will have given me before he drives off to work. All I'm going to worry about on that day is on how I'm going to spend that 100 pesos and if I am going to meet that cute chick with the green hand bag from the Psych Department. Geek that I am, she probably wouldn't even give me a second look.
Life is good.