The Meaning of Motherhood

Abstract

This article looks at how a group of marginalized young women, in the Dominican Republic, understand the experience of becoming a mother at an early age. The dominant global discourse on adolescent motherhood problematizes the phenomenon. Methodologically flawed scholarship typically attributes adolescent motherhood to poor economic and education outcomes. Little research exists examining the voices of young mothers themselves. The author aims to fill this gap and contribute a better understanding of how a group of disenfranchised young females narrate the experience of motherhood and its significance using a qualitative research design. Narratives suggest that adolescent motherhood may provide unconditional love, a sense of purpose in life, hope for future financial support and an alternative pathway to adulthood for poor Dominican Haitian adolescent females. Findings contrast with the dominant discourse on teen motherhood, indicating a need for researcher and policy to reexamine the costs and benefits of young motherhood.

Keywords

adolescent motherhood community/neighborhood issues conceptions of adulthood education/school ethnic issues immigration issues

Introduction

Adolescent motherhood is a global phenomenon (Bearinger, Sieving, Ferguson, & Sharma, 2007; Berthoud & Robson, 2001; Flores & Nunez, 2001; UNFPA, 2009). The United Nations defines adolescence as occurring between the ages of 10 and 19. Worldwide, adolescent girls represent an increasing percentage of mothers (UNFPA, 2006). While attitudes and practices regarding sexual initiation and pregnancy vary across cultural contexts, the dominant global discourse surrounding adolescent motherhood frames this phenomenon as a problem (Bearinger et al., 2007; Bretheny & Stephens, 2007; Cherrington & Bretheny, 2005). Such conversations present young motherhood as an international issue for medical and socioeconomic reasons (Berthoud & Robson, 2001).

Literature and policy discourse argue that young mothers and their children confront higher maternal and child mortality and lower educational and economic outcomes compared to adult mothers (Berthoud & Robson, 2001; Florez & Nunez, 2001; UNFDP, 2009). Yet research suggests that when adequate medical care and social support is available, medical risks only increase for females below the age of 15 at the time of childbirth (Lawlor & Shaw, 2002). Studies used to demonstrate poorer education and economic outcomes for adolescent mothers compared to adult mothers typically fail to match comparison groups by socioeconomic background (Bretheny & Stephens, 2007; Duncan, 2007; Furstenberg, 2007). The few studies that do look at educational and economic outcomes of poor young mothers using comparison groups from similar backgrounds suggest that early motherhood does not put adolescent mothers and their children at any greater risk for long-term poverty compared to comparison groups who delay pregnancy (Furstenberg, 2007). In sum, the existing research used to stigmatize early motherhood fails to rigorously demonstrate poorer health and economic outcomes among adolescent mothers. This type of research also fails to distinguish social, economic, and cultural variables that might mediate outcomes for young mothers situated in different contexts.

Historically, the voices of young mothers have been absent in the discourse on early motherhood (Bretheny & Stephens, 2007). A nascent body of work looking at how young women experience and make meaning of early motherhood has recently emerged in the West. Edin and Kefala’s (2005) qualitative research on adolescent motherhood in three Philadelphia communities found that women placed high value on early motherhood and generally believed that having children at a young age did not diminish long-term educational attainment. In the context of poor urban settings where females confronted limited opportunities for social and economic mobility, having a child at an early age proved a stabilizing force for young women (Edin & Kefalas, 2005). Dodson (1999) found that poor women in the Boston area retrospectively reported that the experience of first having children during adolescence was fraught with challenges, especially in the face of limited social support. Nonetheless, the majority of respondents discussed having children as motivation to overcome challenges such as generational poverty, family violence, and substance abuse. Literature examining local realities and the significance of early motherhood from the perspectives of young mothers has yet to materialize in the Global South.

An increasingly forceful voice within the international research community has called for a contextualized examination of the moral, political, and economic variables that underlie the exportation of early motherhood as problematic from the Global North to the Global South (Bearinger et al., 2007; Holgate, Evans, & Yuen, 2006). Embedded within this appeal exists the need to study and acknowledge the emic perspective of young mothers living in settings distinct from those in the United States and other industrialized countries (Pantelides, 2003). Such inquiry is vital because the current conceptualization of early motherhood as universally problematic has significant implications for international policy and aid decisions (Smith, Ashford, Gribble, & Clifton, 2009). A critical scrutiny of the influence of poverty, political economy, culture, and family structure within specific settings will help elucidate the potential value of early motherhood and interventions relevant to this population (Holgate, Evans, & Yeun, 2006).

The Dominican Republic (DR) provides fertile ground to explore the above issues. The DR is at a global crossroad. This largely Catholic country of 8,562,541 (Achécar et al., 2007) is intimately connected to both the United States and its closest neighbor, Haiti. The DR relies on remittances, tourism, and free trade zones as the greatest contributors to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP; Ceara-Hatton & Cañeta-Alonso, 2010). Western values and policies (e.g., International Monetary Fund [IMF], World Bank, and World Health Organization [WHO]) greatly influence the construction of social issues, like adolescent pregnancy and teen motherhood, and interventions aimed to address these issues (Bretheny & Stephens, 2007).

In the DR, political and economic oppression (e.g., the denial of citizenship, limited access to formal education and health care) has been used as a tool for members of an elite class to maintain political, economic, and social power over certain portions of the population, like Dominicans of Haitian descent (Farmer, 2009; Martinez, 1995; Plant, 1987). This systematic oppression has had negative effects on marginalized segments of the population including individuals of Haitian ancestry (Achecar, Ramirez, Polanco, Quiterio, & Ronzino, 2007; Farmer, 2009; Lozano, 2008). Much like the historical impact of slavery in the United States, which has had long-term consequences for the health, well-being, and economic mobility of African Americans, structural oppression in the DR has resulted in negative outcomes in these domains for Haitian migrant workers and their descendants living in the DR (Achecar et al., 2007; Human Rights Watch, 2002; Wucker, 1999).

Within the DR, Haitian migrant workers have crossed the border for over a century with the express purpose of working on sugar plantations. (Martinez, 1995; Moya Pons, 1995). Because of the political strife and poor economy that existed and continues to exist in Haiti, some seasonal workers have chosen to permanently settle in the DR. Today, descendants of these migrant workers, Dominican Haitians, live in segregated communities, bateyes, originally designed to temporarily house migrant cane laborers (Jesuit Refugee Services, 2004; Martinez, 1995). As seasonal laborers have permanently settled in the bateyes of the DR, their descendants find themselves subjected to discriminatory social and political practices.

Systematic discrimination toward Haitians and their descendants in the DR has been maintained by two primary methods. One method of exclusion involves denying Dominicans of Haitian descent birth certificates (Jesuit Refugee Services 2004; Moya Pons 1995). Individuals without a birth certificate do not have the right to attend public schools, access public medical and social services, or fully participate in civic life (Human Rights Watch, 2002; Jesuit Refugee Services, 2004). The second method of exclusion involves the physical segregation of Dominicans of Haitian descent into bateyes. People living in the bateyes deal with chronic hunger, poor sanitation, and inadequate housing (Achecar et al., 2007; Jesuit Refugee Services, 2004). A 2007 nationally representative census comparing health, educational, and economic indicators within 209 bateyes highlights these disparities (Achecar et al., 2007).

The following statistics reflect data for females between ages 15 and 49. The HIV prevalence within censused bateyes was five times higher than the national average. The mean number of school years completed for females in the bateyes was 5.2 compared to 8.8 nationally. Likewise, only 25% of females living in bateyes completed secondary school compared to 57% of females nationally. Twenty eight percent of women in the bateyes reported first childbirth occurring between the ages of 15 and 19, yet only 16% of females nationally reported first childbirth within the same age range (Achecar et al., 2007). Data on average age of first intercourse is not available for the bateyes, but the reported national average age for first intercourse for females is 19 years (Profamilia, 2008).

For Dominican Haitian adolescent females, early pregnancy is highly probable because of structural barriers restricting other forms of social and community participation (Woodling & Moseley-Williams, 2004). Early pregnancy must be understood in the context of social, political, and economic marginalization within the DR. Given the paucity of personal narratives in the scholarship on early motherhood, particularly within the Global South, inquiry on how young women understand and make meaning of motherhood can provide insight into how this experience may facilitate purpose and/or a sense of meaning in the lives of extremely disenfranchised young women.

Method

This study used a cross-sectional qualitative method. The author collected 21 semistructured interviews with young mothers and engaged in field observations with participants for 2 months. The topic, adolescent motherhood, was previously identified by community members as an issue of concern. The author selected a qualitative method for the purpose of exploring motherhood from an emic perspective, by engaging in a narrative process with young women whose perspectives and voices have remained unheard (Fine & Weis, 1998).

Study Sites and Recruitment

This study was conducted in two bateyes located an hour drive east of the DR’s capital city, Santo Domingo. One community is more urban and located at the edges of a military town. The second batey, with an approximate population of 5,000, is geographically much more isolated. Open fields surround the community for at least a mile in each direction.

The author’s involvement in both bateyes has evolved over 10 years. She first entered these communities in the capacity of an adult literacy facilitator working with community members to address limited educational opportunities. Personal relationships developed with community members which ultimately facilitated access to participants for this research project. Between June and August 2009 the author conducted 21 semistructured in-depth interviews and field observations with young women between the ages of 13 and 21. All participants had experienced a pregnancy during the previous 3 years. All participants had become pregnant and given birth to their first child prior to turning 18. The average age at the time of interview was 17.29 years and the mean age at the time of first child’s birth was 15.43 years. The author chose to focus on young mothers who had given birth within the last 3 years to ensure that all participants had fairly recent memories of experiences surrounding becoming pregnant and having a child for the first time. The study excluded young mothers who only speak Haitian Creole because of the author’s lack of fluency.

Recruitment involved snowball sampling. Initially, the author approached four key informants with whom she had established relationships. These key informants suggested participants and provided introductions. After being interviewed, some participants gave the names of additional young mothers to interview in their community. The author conducted field observations with a subsample of six participants. Field observations involved following young mothers for at least 2 weeks while they carried out their daily routines and childcare. This data was later triangulated with interview accounts of how motherhood impacted daily life. Factors considered in field observation recruitment included whether the participant worked outside of the batey daily and whether the participant resided outside of the community during the week.

Data Collection

In-depth interviews involved a semistructured set of open-ended questions regarding participants’ lives and experiences before, during, and after first pregnancy. The interview protocol included questions about home, school, and social life before becoming pregnant. In addition, the author asked about relationships with primary caregivers and social support systems spanning the participant’s life. The interview protocol assessed reproductive health knowledge prior to becoming pregnant for the first time as well as the past and current status of the mother’s relationship with the father of her child. Other questions aimed to understand young women’s aspirations prior to and subsequent to motherhood. In some cases, responses to the interview protocol led to additional lines of questioning. For example, one young mother discussed engaging in sex work immediately after the birth of her child because of a lack of social and economic support. This led to a dialogue between the author and the participant about young women’s engagement in sex work in the community at large. All interviews were conducted in Spanish and digitally recorded with the consent of each participant. Interviews were then transported back to the United States and transcribed by research assistants and the author.

Analysis

The goal of the analysis was to understand the circumstances surrounding young women becoming mothers, the role of economic and educational opportunities in this process, and perceived opportunity costs to having children early. The author also explored how views of family and other social supports evolved through the process of becoming a mother. All analysis was conducted in Spanish, using Atlas-Ti software and a grounded theory method (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). After the transcription of audio recordings, the author developed a codebook based on a thematic coding of a sample of seven interviews. Additional codes emerged and were integrated into the codebook and applied to all transcripts. The author had a research assistant apply codes to a subset of five transcripts for comparison to the author’s coding to ensure consistent application. The research assistant and the author established 85% reliability in coding. All discrepancies were resolved by examining codebook definitions and jointly discussing the specific text to which the code had been applied until agreement was reached.

The author created both a-priori and in-vivo codes. A-priori codes emerged from readings on adolescent motherhood and ecological frameworks. These codes were premised on the hypothesis that romantic love would influence adolescent girls’ decisions to engage in unprotected sex and that a lack of educational opportunities preceded onset of first pregnancy. The author selected additional a-priori codes based on impressions formulated while conducting interviews for this study. In-vivo codes emerged inductively from the transcripts and are named using the language of participants. Each interview was coded at least twice by the author to ensure continuity in the coding process. Finally, all codes were assigned to four overarching themes identified within the transcripts. These themes include life before pregnancy, feelings about pregnancy, challenges to motherhood, and benefits of motherhood.

Results

Below, key findings from the interview portion of this study are presented. All quotes use pseudonyms. These findings highlight the complex gender and social hierarchies’ young Dominican Haitian females must navigate and the role motherhood plays in this process.

Motivational Forces Resulting in Early Motherhood

Family Life and Discord

For the majority of young mothers, a number of factors converged and contributed to first pregnancy. Participants discussed family dynamics, stage of involvement with a romantic partner and love as influencing their decision to engage in unprotected sex that eventually resulted in pregnancy. All but two participants described family discord as an influential factor in becoming sexually involved with a partner and eventual pregnancy. Issues related to family discord included: the desire for autonomy, the desire to live in an environment with less verbal and physical conflict, as well as family trauma resulting from the death of primary caregivers and siblings.

Several young mothers (10) indicated that their desire for more autonomy and freedom from primary caregivers’ households played a key role in the decision to enter common law marriages at an early age. In the DR, common law marriage involves living with a partner that the community recognizes as a spouse without having a legal or religious ceremony/license. Autonomy and freedom referred to either a desire/wish for or young woman taking action to gain greater control over finances, physical movement, responsibilities, and interpersonal relationships. Once engaged in a common law marriage, pregnancy frequently follows. Anita, age 16, nicely illustrated her desire for independence from her parents, which resulted in her decision to marry at age 13.

Anita:

I married him because they [mother and father] didn’t let me go out. They always had me like I was a prisoner. They didn’t let me spend time with my friends . . . That’s why I married. Because I got tired of being shut in. That’s why I married. And they [parents] would fight with me all the time.

Seven participants also described either verbal or physical punishment by primary caregivers as motivation for trying to seek greater autonomy and independence through a relationship with a romantic partner. Altagracia, age 19, explained how verbal assaults by her stepfather played a key role in her decision to marry at age 15 and leave her mother’s household. This relationship would eventually result in the birth of two children before age 20.

Altagracia:

I only lived with my mother because my father died . . . After that she [mother] met and married a man. And I didn’t get along with that man. Because he drank a lot and said a lot of things. I told her [mother] enough. If you’re going to continue living with him I don’t know what I will do because I don’t want him in the house.

Interviewer:

So you didn’t feel very comfortable in the house. Do you think that influenced your decision to go out with your boyfriend and move in with him, or not so much?

Altagracia:

Yes. Because sometimes he [stepfather] would hit me, and she [mother] gave justification to her husband. Sometimes the husband said I did many things and she [mother] without asking me would hit me.

Dariana, age 15, explicitly stated that she experienced her grandmother’s parenting as overly strict and punitive. This motivated Dariana to enter a common law marriage, which resulted in pregnancy at age 14.

Dariana:

If she sent me, sent me to buy something, I had to come before; she didn’t give me even an extra second. If I spent more than three minutes outside she would hit me, hit me hard. One day she told me to get out of her house and I went and I married him.

Romantic Relationships and Trust

The majority of interview participants (19) described feelings of love toward a romantic partner as one reason for engaging in unprotected intercourse, a risk factor for young motherhood. The role of perceived love in sexual engagements varied among participants. In some cases the belief that a young woman’s partner was in love with her allowed a sense of security when engaging in unprotected sex. Sixteen young women discussed not intentionally becoming pregnant, but understanding the risk existed and believing that their sexual partner would provide emotional and financial support in the event of pregnancy. Altagracia, age 19, explained an explicit understanding with her first sexual partner. If she became pregnant they would move in together and become common law spouses. For Altagracia such an agreement largely nullified the need to consistently use contraception. Trust and power dynamics also seemed to play a role in many couples’ decision to not consistently use contraceptives as Altagracia illustrates below.

Altagracia:

I told him that, well I told him that he’s good, that I want him, but if I get pregnant, we marry normal. And he told me yes.

Interviewer:

But you didn’t talk about how to prevent a pregnancy?

Altagracia:

No.

Interviewer:

You only talked about what would happen if you got pregnant?

Altagracia:

And sometimes I would tell him when we had conversations, I would say that he needed to protect himself, that he should put on the thing [condom] and he told me no.

Interviewer:

And why? Why did he say no?

Altagracia:

Because he told me that he was my first, my first boyfriend.

The interview protocol did not directly probe participants about whether they felt pressure to engage in unprotected sex. In 19 interviews, participants independently discussed their willingness to have unprotected sex. Twenty out of 21 of the respondents indicated that they had at least enough knowledge about contraceptives and family planning to request either condom use or that a sexual partner purchase contraceptive pills. Nonetheless, more than half of participants indicated that they did not think they had sufficient understanding of reproductive health at the time of first pregnancy to effectively protect themselves. Several respondents also indicated that substantial barriers existed to consistently and effectively use family planning methods. Participants identified trust as one potential barrier to utilizing contraceptives, even when a desire to prevent pregnancy existed. Cassandra, age 17, discussed trusting the father of her child as one barrier to using condoms.

Interviewer:

And what, which, what happened? What step didn’t happen to use condoms?

Cassandra:

Because they say, it’s like they say when I go to the HIV workshops. They say that trust is the danger. So I had, I had too much trust to use condoms.

Young women living in the households of primary caregivers also expressed fear about having contraceptives discovered by parents or grandparents. Cassandra articulated this concern.

Cassandra:

Because if I used them [condoms], I had too much fear, scared. I didn’t want to associate so much with those things, but I knew that if I didn’t associate with these things I would end up pregnant anyway.

Interviewer:

And why didn’t you want to associate with these things?

Cassandra:

At that time because of fear. Fear that my mother would find the pills.

Fear was not limited to having a primary caregiver discover contraceptives. Participants also talked about limited contraceptive use resulting from concerns about the ability to conceive children and the long-term consequences of birth control pills and injections. Arianna’s, age 18, account suggested that as early as 16 she had concerns about her long-term ability to conceive children and how contraceptive use might negatively impact efforts to conceive later on in life.

Arianna:

I was really scared because people say that when you’ve never given birth and you start to drink pills [contraception], after, you can’t have a child.

Two participants narrated accounts indicating they had little negotiation power in deciding to engage in intercourse and contraception use. As a result, these young women did not have significant control in determining when to have children, or whether to engage in unprotected sex. In both cases the respondents recounted primary caregivers essentially forcing them into common law marriages. They each became pregnant with their first child soon afterward.

Educational Barriers

Given the literature associating early pregnancy with school dropout and poor education outcomes, exploring young mothers’ views about this issue is particularly important. All but three participants experienced some interruption in their formal education by the time of interview. Young mothers describe a variety of reasons for exiting school. While some do directly attribute exiting secondary school to pregnancy, seven interview participants either exited school before first pregnancy, or describe not consistently participating in formal education because they lacked Dominican birth certificates.

Feelings Surrounding Pregnancy and Childbirth

Mixed Emotions

Participants articulated complex emotions surrounding pregnancy and the birth of children. While all participants expressed pride after the birth of their first child, emotional reactions to discovering first pregnancy often involved joy, worry, and regret. Some participants, like Genesis, contemplated aborting their unborn fetus in the face of limited social support. When Genesis became pregnant at 17, she was living on her own. Her mother died at an early age and she described being raised by neglectful and abusive relatives. When her married boyfriend discovered the pregnancy he abandoned Genesis. Faced with carrying a child while working as a domestic servant, Genesis’s emotional response to the pregnancy fluctuated. She felt strongly about the importance of having children and being a mother, but at times this commitment waivered under the weight of having to survive in extremely hostile circumstances.

Genesis:

I made a promise that if I got pregnant that I wouldn’t abort, that I would have my child . . . He [boyfriend] left me alone and I experienced a lot of difficulties, with my child in my belly. I went hungry, much need, and many times I thought about aborting, because not having a mother or a father, not counting on anyone, because my aunt didn’t worry about me.

Other participants indicated that while motherhood is a mark of pride, discovering pregnancy can also prove embarrassing if it occurs while living in a primary caregiver’s home. Seventeen participants became pregnant while living within a primary caregiver’s household. Of these participants, (nine) lived in a primary caregiver’s household at the point of interview. The cultural norm is that a female should establish an independent household with a partner before becoming pregnant. Remaining in the household of a primary caregiver once a pregnancy occurs represents an increased financial burden for the household. If the pregnancy becomes visible and a female is still living with primary caregivers, the situation becomes a public display of a father’s denial of paternity. Interview participants described this lack of acknowledgment as something shameful for both a young mother and her family because it is viewed as evidence that a young woman had multiple sexual partners.

Many participants discuss pregnancy and motherhood as a blessing while at the same time discussing their worries about continuing with academic studies. Anabel explains that at 13 she knew she was quite young and felt unsure about the impact motherhood would have on her future.

Anabel:

Well I felt really really bad . . . Bad because I was young to have a child right then and leave my studies. I felt very very, I felt good because I was going to have a girl and this is a gift that god gives someone, their children. That’s your family.

A small minority of participants (three) expressed that they only experienced sadness and regret during their first pregnancy. Despite not having any expressed desire to have a child, all three young women made a decision to not try and abort their fetuses. Legal abortion does not exist in the DR, but illegal abortions do take place. These three participants talked about how their feelings began to shift toward pride and love subsequent to childbirth. Nina, age 18, expressed profound disappointment after being forced into a common law marriage and becoming pregnant. She discussed an evolution in her emotions after the birth of her first son:

Nina:

I never thought that I would have him because I didn’t want him either. But I took him because that’s the way things are. After I took him I felt proud, and my family took him . . . I have a son. And after I said, ‘I am not going to give birth now. I am going to get contraceptives, to protect.’

Few respondents expressed worry about having the requisite knowledge or ability to care for children while pregnant, or after the birth of their child. More frequently, young mothers stated that they experienced worry toward the end of pregnancy about their ability to provide financially for children. Likewise, most participants discussed fearing the actual experience of childbirth once labor began, but only one young mother reported that there were complications with her first labor.

Challenges to Motherhood

The Best Time to Be a Mom

All participants acknowledged the importance of economic stability and educational attainment when describing the best time to begin having children. Participants clearly outlined a need to have the economic resources to provide shelter, adequate food, and education as necessary to be considered a “good mother.” All mothers identified that they themselves had not achieved this standard at the point of first pregnancy. When asked about the best time to have a child all interview participants listed an age older than their own at first pregnancy. Typically participants responded that a young woman should be in her early to mid-20s when she has her first child. When probed about what a young woman has achieved at this age to prepare her for motherhood, participants listed the completion of secondary and higher education, securing a steady job, having financial stability, and an independent household from parents or primary caregivers as accomplishments that ready a young woman for motherhood. Sandra, age 18, talked about the expense of caring for a newborn and explained that she would want her own children to first have the financial wherewithal to comfortably manage these expenses.

Sandra:

. . . Before they have children they need to be prepared, to have a good job. You know children need a lot of milk, pampers, sometimes they get sick and you need to buy vitamins and everything is expensive.

The vast majority of participants (17) discussed their belief that having completed at least secondary and ideally postsecondary studies provides key preparation for motherhood. No participant discussed structural barriers faced by poor Dominican females of Haitian descent that impede the completion of secondary and postsecondary education. Rather, these participants identified potential economic benefits associated with educational achievement as critical to preparing a young woman for motherhood. Young women also placed the burden of achieving academic goals on themselves.

Finally, more than half of the interview participants stated that a young woman should have established an independent household before having children. Participants very clearly identified having a child within a primary caregiver’s home as problematic because of the financial burden it presents for biological family members. Participants also explained that the community script for ideal motherhood and womanhood involves a woman having a child within in a household separate from her parents.

Education and Parenting

While participants clearly outlined benefits to motherhood, they also described challenges that began at the point of childbirth. Most participants identified financial and material needs as a concern before the onset of first pregnancy. Money continued to be a considerable challenge for young mothers after the birth of children. All participants discussed some degree of financial limitations as a barrier to providing their child with their desired level of care. Respondents drew connections between financial needs, exiting school, and childcare. A third of interviewed mothers at least partially attributed exiting school to pregnancy and childbirth. When Mariel, age 17, discussed her motivations for having children and how motherhood created challenges, her principal concern and regret involved having to leave school to financially provide for her two daughters.

Interviewer:

So, the situation at home was not very good, I see. So did this influence your decision to have a boyfriend?

Mariel:

Yes, because at this time I thought that by having relations and having my daughters that I was hurting my mother. But in reality I was hurting myself. Because after I got pregnant I had to stop studying and my life changed. Now I can’t think about myself, I have to think about my children.

Childcare

Participants also discussed childcare as a serious challenge to working and continuing formal education. Most interview participants cited someone, typically a family member, who could provide some level of assistance with childcare. Nonetheless, participants consistently stated that a lack of childcare played a role in not consistently attending school or having the ability to work. Ana’s story illustrates this tension. During the interview Ana, age 15, stated that her mother-in-law would provide childcare when she returned to classes for the upcoming term. In field observations, Ana’s mother-in-law repeatedly threatened to withhold childcare. Months after the initial interview Ana reported that she indeed did enroll in night classes, but could not attend regularly because of childcare issues. At the time of interview only eight participants were enrolled in secondary school and none had received a high school diploma. Participants discussed how family and community members were more reliable for temporary and occasional childcare. When a mother was sick, needed to run errands or attend to other family member’s illnesses, family or friends usually stepped in to provide respite childcare.

Fulfilling Day-to-Day Needs

Meeting even basic needs can prove challenging in the bateyes. This is no exception for young mothers. All participants expressed a desire for their children to study, have enough food, sufficient health care and the ability to take part in social or leisure activities. Every participant indicated that their main concern for children involved the ability to ensure basic needs like food, health care, and citizenship. Nina, age 18, struggled to provide her Dominican born sons with birth certificates which would entitle them the right to attend public school.

Interviewer:

Do you see that in the future it could be a problem for them because they don’t have birth certificates?

Nina:

It’s a problem for them [children] not to [birth certificates]. They can’t study. They can’t do anything. A profession that they need to have, they can’t have without documents.

Most participants described laboring to consistently provide basics like sufficient food for children. Mariel, age 17, had a full-time job at the time of interview. Nonetheless, she had to send one daughter to live with a paternal grandmother because Mariel’s financial resources did not allow her to provide for the basic needs of two children. She repeatedly expressed her hope to reunite her daughters and her reticence to have one live away from her. Nonetheless, Mariel thought that given her economic condition, sending her eldest daughter to live with a less financially strapped relative was the most responsible parental choice.

Personal Sacrifice

The majority of participants discussed making substantial sacrifices for the benefit of their children. These sacrifices ranged from postponing education (13) to leaving family and community to work in domestic service and send money back to support children (two). In the most extreme case one participant discussed engaging in sex for monetary exchange during a period of extreme financial difficulty.

Genesis, age 19:

. . . When the baby drank all the milk I went out to ask the people I knew for help and I gathered money this way and one day, I had the need, I had a friend. He was in love with me, but I was never in love with him. But because of the situation that I was in I had to have sexual relations with him so that he would give me money . . . to buy milk for my son. Yes, so he gave me 500 pesos and I bought milk for the baby, I bought diapers.

In addition to financial sacrifices a mother makes, participants also discussed emotional sacrifices as implicit to motherhood. Often times these emotional sacrifices involved childbearing, childrearing, and relationships with children’s fathers. At the point of interview, seven participants no longer lived with the father of their first child. Of the remaining 15, four described their marital relationship as extremely strained. Cassandra, age 15, offered insight into her personal struggle to make peace with the fact that the father of her child, Cassandra’s common law husband, has another family.

Cassandra:

Yes. But with so many experiences with so many things that have happened, now I have an adults’ life. Now I am not, I am not a little girl, I am a woman.

Interviewer:

And why?

Cassandra:

Because now it’s not the same, how I think it’s not the same now. And now as a woman I have my defects, my silly ways. I also suffer. I suffer because . . . he had his wife. There are many things that I felt very bad about.

Participants no longer in relationships with their children’s fathers, or who currently described their relationships as strained, attributed this shift to both the economic pressure that comes with having a child and also to a mothers’ shifting time commitment to her newborn.

The Benefits of Motherhood

Unconditional Love

The vast majority of participants indicate that the benefits of motherhood ultimately outweigh challenges. Most prominently unconditional love, a sense of pride, and self-efficacy as well as hope for future security mark benefits of early motherhood for females living in both bateyes. When asked about the best part of being a mother almost all respondents stated that the love and bond between mother and child has immeasurable worth. Participants discussed the affection children display toward mothers as well as the positive emotions mothers themselves feel toward their children.

Beneta, age 18:

I love her so much, can’t live more than three minutes without her. When I go out if she is not with me I feel bad.

Hope for the Future

Interview participants almost unanimously stated that children represent the best promise for future financial security. Participants expressed the belief that children will care for their parents in old age and that children may lift their parents out of poverty by one day achieving financial success that alludes older generations. In a social and economic environment with few viable opportunities for unskilled labor and little hope of stable and nonexploitive wages, participants articulated that children provide the best option for financial security in old age or in sickness.

Dariana, age 15:

I say that I want to have them [children] because tomorrow there may not be anyone, only my children and if I’m sick they’ll bath me and give me affection.

A Motivation to Preserver

Interview respondents also talked about children representing hope for the future. Specifically, children provided mothers with the strength to struggle against formidable social and environmental obstacles. Participants discussed feeling like children give them more purpose and direction in life.

Ana, age 15:

I believe that I have more reason to live. Because I have a baby that I have to teach about life. How is life. I have to help because he needs me.

Participants also discussed motherhood as a catalyst for returning to school. For the seven participants that dropped out of school before the onset of first pregnancy, all stated the belief that having children gives them even more incentive to try to attain education despite economic barriers. Likewise, young mothers expressed the hope that children will realize idealized goals such as completion of postsecondary education, a stable, and good paying job as well as home ownership.

Beneta, age 18:

. . . I want [her] to grow up very healthy and I want her to continue studying, that she study well even though I can’t give her what I have to give her, but that she study at least to a decent place and that she learns a lot. Because me, I got to eighth grade but I learned very little of what I should have. Yes. I want her to move forward. But even though I couldn’t go further [I hope] that she one day goes further to help me.

Becoming an Adult

Ultimately, interview participants described understanding motherhood as an identity transition from childhood to adulthood. These young women described self-sacrifice, perseverance, and establishing separate households from primary caregivers as key components in their transition to adulthood.

Interviewer:

How would your life be if you had never had this baby?

Ana, age 15:

Well I would have continued to have the life of a child.

One of the ultimate markers of this transition from childhood to adulthood involved the perception of having respect within the community. Over half of the interview participants discussed how the way one cares for her child can increase the esteem community members hold for a young mother. Establishing a stable household is also described as a marker by which community members afforded respect to young mothers.

Maria, age 19:

To have a child it’s something much desired, very admired. Sometimes people don’t look at you, they don’t like you. Now that you have a child they, they take more notice of you.

Interviewer:

Like, the people in the community? They give you greater value, or who gives you more value?

Maria, age 19:

Everyone. Because they see, they never thought that you could be a mother or have a stable family. Because many get married, have a child, but in the end it doesn’t work, they don’t live with the father of their child.

Discussion

The narratives of poor, young Dominican mothers of Haitian descent suggest that adolescent motherhood has multilayered meanings and multiple consequences. While young mothers expressed concern about delayed education as a result of becoming pregnant before completing secondary and postsecondary education, none of these women expressed the belief that they were any less likely to ever complete schooling after giving birth. This is consistent with attitudes about educational opportunity costs among poor young mothers in the United States (Dodson, 1999; Edin & Kefalas, 2005).The fact that so many participants experienced delays in secondary education before first pregnancy suggests that other variables such as poverty, lack of documentation, and family discord play much larger roles in educational attainment within poor communities like the bateyes (Bretheny & Stephens, 2007; Fine & Weiss, 1998; Stevens, 1994).

In the face of extreme economic and social marginalization, it is unlikely that anyone in a batey, young or old, will realize the goal of achieving financial security before starting a family. As such, females of any age may resign themselves to falling short of this idealized standard of motherhood, in favor of having children under less optimal circumstances that nonetheless garner benefits. Participants articulated a cost–benefit view of early motherhood similar to Steven’s (1994) alternative-lifestyle model. Steven’s framework suggested that some poor African American females experience motherhood as a positive choice, given limited life opportunities. A majority of participants discussed the belief that they had the same future or more of a future after becoming a mother as they did before becoming pregnant for the first time. This supports the idea that in environments of extreme poverty the perceived psychosocial and potential long-term economic benefits of early motherhood (e.g., economic security in old age) outweigh potential costs (Stearns, Allal, & Mace, 2008).

Motherhood appears to provide young women with a pathway to assert an adult identity within batey communities. Dominican Haitian females must deal with gender and ethnic discrimination. Apart from motherhood and common law marriage, participants identified the hard to achieve goal of financial independence as the only alternative avenue to take on an adult role in the batey. Participants experienced a shift both in their self-concept and also in their community’s reception after having children. All participants discussed feeling a greater drive to strive to improve their lives and a sense that this struggle brought them in line with an adult identity. Longitudinal studies of poor young mothers in the United States report similar findings surrounding shifting self-concept and emerging adult roles and identities (Dodson, 1999; Edin & Kefalas, 2005). Interview participants consistently indicated that children provided young mothers with motivation to try and study, to work and find some semblance of economic security under extremely adverse conditions. Further, being able to raise a child the community recognizes as well-mannered, well-groomed, and that attends school provided mothers with a sense of pride and respect.

Motherhood does not come without challenges. Interview participants identified extreme financial hardship, marital discord, and inconsistent childcare as constant issues. Common law unions frequently dissolve. Twelve participants either no longer had a relationship with their child’s father or described the relationship as extremely strained at the time of interview. These participants discussed financial pressure and husbands’ jealousy over a new mother’s shifting priorities as reasons for marital dissolution, a theme in research examining social support among young mothers (Bunting & McAuley, 2004).

News of pregnancy also caused strain between primary caregivers for many participants. For several participants becoming pregnant came with the short-term cost of a fractured relationship with parents or grandparents. In almost all cases, primary caregivers renewed their relationships with young mothers at the point of childbirth. This was not an issue for young mothers who were married and living with their partners prior to becoming pregnant. For young women living in parent’s or primary caregiver’s home at the time of pregnancy, a greater possibility existed of a father denying paternity and leaving the maternal family to absorb all of the costs associated with a new born baby. This is seen as careless and “shameful” on the part of a young woman. The result is an almost ritual like shunning from the time the pregnancy is discovered until birth or near birth when caregivers tend to once again offer support to the young mother.

Future Directions

While this study begins to address a gap in the literature regarding adolescent females’ understanding of young motherhood, questions remain. The current study does not provide a control group to examine variations in education and economic outcomes by delaying motherhood. Future work will also need to look at the generational transmission of values and how those historical values might be shifting in batey communities due to migration patterns and globalization. The bateyes inhabit both Dominican and Haitian cultures. Understanding historical family structures and the traditionally sanctioned time to begin motherhood can shed further light on the seaming incongruence between the stated best time to begin childbearing and the community norm. Ethnographic research looking at Haitian family structure reveals that women often engage in repeated monogamous relationships with men that result in multiple offspring (Maternowska, 2006). In the Haitian context the need for financial help from male partners, combined with gender inequality and a lack of negotiating power in family planning, results in women bearing many children (Maternowska, 2006). It is important to understand how poverty, migration to the DR, and the confluence of multiple cultures impacts this trend. Future work should examine how parents of young mothers and other community elders construct the appropriate time and circumstances to enter motherhood. In addition, understanding global forces, though international aid, reproductive health policies as well as transmission of Western ideas through media and migration from the DR to the United States and back, may shed further light on the current local discourse with regards to early motherhood and any shift that discourse has undergone.

This work has multiple implications for interventions. Interviews suggest that current reproductive health services do not meet the needs of this population. While young mothers affirmed that they gained knowledge about reproductive health from workshops sponsored by local and international agencies, this information does not translate into consistent changes in reproductive health practices. Many young mothers described a desire to use contraceptives, while also discussing nontrivial barriers to doing so. Birth control pills do not afford a realistic option for adolescent girls living in parents’ homes because of fear that parents will discover them. While the community health worker model affords many benefits, in a small community young women may not seek out contraceptives from community health workers out of fear that the larger community will find out. Young women also discussed the financial cost of paying bus fare to get to clinics and the cost of nonsubsidized contraceptive options as burdensome. Reproductive health agencies would benefit their target populations by considering these issues and talking with young women to find realistic alternatives. Regardless of the benefits having a child might garner, adolescent females need to have safe access to appropriate family planning methods, and the knowledge to use such methods effectively when desired.

Young mothers articulated a desire for greater education and childcare opportunities. Working with communities and local agencies to establish relationships with centers offering correspondence courses can provide one tool for young mothers who wish to complete secondary school. Collaborating with young mothers to come up with a realistic timetable to pursue academic work while balancing household, childcare, and work for pay responsibilities will aid young mothers in achieving goals. Finally, working with young mothers and community members to explore possible childcare options may assist this population in avoiding education delays.

At a policy level the conversation on early motherhood needs to shift. Historically and currently, international policy makers (e.g., UNPF, WHO, UNICEF, USAID) all portray adolescent motherhood as a black vortex from which few emerge. The larger issue surrounding early motherhood is poverty. Young women who are marginalized both because of their gender, economic, and political status have few opportunities to assert themselves as valued and productive members of society. In some settings, motherhood provides one of the only opportunities to affirm oneself as an adult in the community, receive respect, experience unconditional love, and have at least the possibility of some financial security in old age. Instead of condemning one of the few pathways to attain status within society, we should endeavor to increase opportunities for educational, economic, and social mobility based on the expressed needs of young women. Providing additional pathways to community respect and future financial security will ultimately allow adolescent females a choice about how and when to become a mother.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Michael J. Kral, PhD, for his feedback and ideas during the writing of this manuscript. I am especially appreciative to the young women of the bateyes who shared their private lives with me.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author Biography

Ida Salusky is a doctoral candidate in Clinical/Community Psychology at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana.

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