BUMPER BROOD
I was a teen mum at 13 and had to take parenting lessons to learn how to do it but I want four kids before my mid 20s
Watch the video above for Maddie's Q&A
A TEEN mum who fell pregnant at 13 has shared how she wants to have four kids before her mid 20s.
Maddie Lambert-Crowley dropped out of school after falling pregnant with her first child and she has now welcomed her second child and has now completed her first degree.
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Maddie did a Q&A on YouTube this week and opened up about having even more kids with husband Randy Crowley.
Currently she has six-year-old Everly Joy from a previous partner and she shares baby Ryder James, who arrived in March, with Randy.
She shared: “Do I want more kids? Yes, people think I'm crazy, but I think we definitely want at least two more kids.
“I know I've done this crazy switch up; people are like, ‘Oh, Maddie's the smart Teen Mum, she's not going and having a bunch more kids right away.’
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“But honestly, I want a big family.
“I want to fill my house with love.
“Even though I'm young, I'm at an age where I can financially support my kids, emotionally support my kids, and give them a good life.
“I think those three qualifiers make me more qualified to be a parent than somebody who is 30 years old.”
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Maddie and Randy got married while she was pregnant with Ryder and tied the knot in an outdoor ceremony in September last year.
She added that she didn’t think “age has anything to do with your ability to be a parent.”
I fell pregnant at 13, was accused of 'leeching' & told to abort my baby - the last laugh's on me
Maddie continued: “Randy and I want a big family, and we're just so blessed to be in the position where we can have that big family and support them financially and emotionally. “Honestly, we're just kind of playing it by ear; we're going to see what happens.
“I just love being a mum, and it feels like my life's calling.”
Even though I'm young, I'm at an age where I can financially support my kids, emotionally support my kids, and give them a good life
Maddie Lambert-Crowley
Parenting classes
However, Maddie did acknowledge that having kids so young wasn’t advisable.
She added: “I don't recommend having kids as a teenager because you don't know the things you need to know to be a parent.
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“But I've definitely become more informed, even scientifically, on different practices.
“Randy and I took a child psychology class together, and we learned a lot about development and how to aid in that, which was great.
“I'd say I'm just a lot more informed now, and things like schedules, what we're feeding our kids, and that sort of thing have changed a lot since growing up.
“Not even really since adding another kid; I feel like my parenting style has just changed as I've gotten older and more mature.”
Maddie shared how she is passionate about her education and is starting a bachelor's degree in September and hopes to do a masters, possibly followed by studying medicine.
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She added: “I've talked a lot about going to medical school, and I think that would be a lot of fun. I do want to go into medicine, but I've also talked to a lot of medical professionals.
“I've spoken with doctors, PAs, and NPs, and one of the biggest consensuses I've gotten is that medical school equals debt, and you lose so much time.”
Cruel remarks
The mum-of-two has previously opened up about the “hate” she received when telling the world she was pregnant aged 13.
“Whenever you would see the media surrounding teen mums, you see the TV shows, and it’s just really negative and it shows a lot of drama,” she told Truly.
“When I actually got pregnant, I was so scared of the reaction people were gonna give.
“I did get a lot of negative reactions, a lot of hate.”
UK Teen Mum Statistics
Teen pregnancies in the UK have been decreasing considerably since 2007...
The under-18 conception rate has decreased considerably since 2007, reports .
Between 2007 and 2021, the under-18 conception rate in England and Wales decreased by 68%, from 42 per 1,000 women to 13 per 1,000 women.
This resulted in 13,131 under-18 conceptions in England and Wales in 2021.
People told the then-teenager that she had “ruined her life”, with one troll even wishing death on her.
“Everybody had something to say and they didn’t hold back,” she continued.
“I had people send me the address to abortion clinics.”
Other girls at school mocked Maddie and put sports balls under their tops to mimic her bump when she was seven months pregnant.
This pushed her to drop out.
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Maddie is a firm believer that teen pregnancy isn’t something to “look down” on young girls for.
She has openly admitted that she judged teen mums before becoming one, but now views things differently.
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