Ever since the original Teen Mom series debuted on MTV, audiences worldwide have been obsessed with following the girls’ lives. America has watched them give birth as petrified teens, raise their babies with lots of help from mom and dad, and grow new relationships while others fell apart. They've seen some get married, others get divorced, and even more have new babies. There have been new siblings added to families, vindictive custody battles between couples, and plenty of name calling. Sure, it’s entertaining, but lately people have been getting tired of hearing the latest from the teen moms with the ever-present drama.
From angsty feuds between BFFs to gross cheating scandals and mysterious hookups on the down low, we’ve heard plenty about the teen moms’ lives. They are airing their dirty laundry to the world, after all. It’s not surprising there isn’t anything that’s swept under the rug or kept secret when it comes to social media, season finales, and uncut footage. But in today’s modern world, being a teen mom isn’t that noteworthy or dramatic anymore. After years of keeping tabs on these girls and their questionable journeys, here are 15 reasons we’re over teen moms and the notoriety they’ve gained.
15 Child Endangerment 101
You’d think that with all these teen moms being filmed by MTV, someone would mention car seat safety to the naïve young mothers. Car seat safety is one of the basics that all parents need to know, and with teen drivers’ inexperience, there’s a whole new element of danger involved. But between adjusting to life as a new mom and dealing with sleeplessness and other stressors, it’s no surprise that so many teen moms aren’t paying attention to car seat issues.
A simple Google search will tell moms what they need to know to keep their babies safe. Really, there’s no excuse for ignorance since every car seat sold comes with an instruction manual. Read it, apply what you’ve learned, and you’ve checked one important item off the “avoiding child endangerment charges” to-do list.
14 Annoying AF Baby Daddy Drama
Teenagers can be immature when it comes to relationships, but when you add a baby to the mix, it can get even worse. Between taking care of a new baby and trying to balance her own needs, a teen mom might resent her baby’s dad for not helping or keeping on with his life like normal!
It’s hard becoming a parent no matter how old you are. But teen moms with baby daddies who don’t help out or couldn’t care less about their kids? That’s a huge reason why we’re over hearing about teen moms’ problems. You two chose to have this baby together, so you both need to step up. Whether you’re still together or he’s dating someone new, take the baby daddy drama down a notch and focus on your kid. Your child will still need you, even if the dad decides he doesn’t.
13 Can’t Seem To “Adult”
Most teen moms live at home. That’s understandable, it’s hard to make it on your own when you’re still in high school and juggling all the responsibilities that come with a baby. But there’s a difference between needing a little help, and expecting your parents to still baby you after you give birth to your own baby. Plenty of teen moms in the media rely on their parents for financial support, and a built-in babysitter.
The saddest case of a grandparent stepping in is that of Jace, Teen Mom Jenelle’s son. He was basically raised by his grandmother, between his mom taking off with boyfriends or partying and trying to be a “normal” teenager. By the time Jenelle came around, getting custody of her son turned into a drawn-out battle with her mom.
12 Treating Their Kids Like Possessions
Repeat after us: your baby is not an accessory. Not all teen moms see their babies as cute dolls to dress up and cart around, but apparently some do. Like Farrah, the teen mom who apparently tried to wax her 3-year-old daughter’s eyebrows. Farrah also caught heat for dressing Sophia in clothes that were deemed inappropriate for little girls by many of her fans.
Teen moms- and all moms- need to realize that their kids aren’t extensions of them, or mini-me’s they can play with and dress up when they want. Babies depend on us for nurturing and guidance, not eyebrow waxes. It shouldn’t be this difficult to figure out how to treat these little humans. Let kids be kids, and leave the waxing and self-consciousness for their awkward teen years- instead of yours.
11 Learn To Walk The Walk
If you’re going to talk to the talk… You shouldn’t be like Bristol Palin and walk in the other direction. After getting pregnant by her then-boyfriend at 17, Bristol went on to promote abstinence over safe-sex methods. Then she got knocked up a second time, by another guy.
Seriously, in today’s world, having kids outside of marriage isn’t a big deal. It’s not even that big of deal for a teen or young woman to be having babies. What is a big deal is trying to use your own experiences to pressure others into making certain decisions. Bristol acted all high and mighty, using her experience to teach other girls what not to do. Then she went and did the same thing again, against her own advice. Maybe she thinks it’s ok this time around since she later married this baby’s dad, then had her third child with him.
10 Motherhood Isn’t A Platform
Plenty of teen moms talk about the reality check they experienced after having their first child. They caution other teens to carefully consider birth control and planning pregnancy. But here’s the thing: motherhood is not a platform for teens to use as a means for fame or attention. Being a mom is tough, all moms know that. Having a hard time as a new mom isn’t unique to teenagers, and saying that it’s only hard for teens is kind of offensive.
Any mom can experience postpartum depression, have trouble recovering from birth, or deal with relationship issues while trying to co-parent. The difference is, moms who aren’t 15 don’t seem to get any slack for mistakes they make. Rather than making teen motherhood all about how hard it is being a teen and a mom, let’s just admit that it’s hard being a mom, no matter what!
9 Talking Smack On Their Own Moms
Plenty of MTV’s teen moms have less-than-stellar things to say about their own mothers. While the teen moms themselves may not be handling their parenting well, they have no problem spouting off about their moms’ bad habits. Teen mom Farrah Abraham criticized her mom (and her dad) for hitting her with a belt when she was little, claiming that both her parents went to jail for abusing her. Her mom and dad deny the claims, and so far no evidence has surfaced that they were ever arrested for child abuse.
Jenelle Evans and her mom Barbara have been at each other’s throats since before Jenelle became a mom, but she never took her mom’s advice and instead would storm out of the house, leaving baby Jace behind. Ok Jenelle, because the way to show your mom that you can be a better one than her is to ditch your kid?
8 Having Babies You Can’t Afford (Or Take Care Of)
Plenty of teen moms do a fabulous job taking care of their kids and providing for them financially. But all we seem to hear about are the ones that don’t. Between Teen Mom’s Leah Messer losing custody of her twins, to Jenelle Evans never really having custody of her son Jace, plus Amber Portwood and her substance abuse scandal and prison time while daughter Leah grew up without her.
What’s sad about the moms who lose custody of their kids, is they all seem to keep getting pregnant after. If you’re not mentally or financially able to handle one child, what makes you think having more babies is the solution? Teen moms who keep having babies, then losing them, are the ones making more responsible teen parents look bad by association!
7 Just For Fun Relationship Roulette
We can’t even count how many teen moms have more than one baby with more than one guy. But apart from that, is it really necessary to bring every guy you date around your baby or young kid? Teen moms seem to deal with this more than older moms, because part of being a teen is dating and learning who you are in relationships, finding yourself and all that.
But when you become a mom, you might consider letting reality dictate how you form relationships. It’s not a good look to bring a bunch of men around, and it’s even harder dealing with breakups when your kid(s) get attached too. Having fun is fine, but bringing your fun around your kids, especially when it’s short-term, has us shaking our heads.
6 Marriage Is For Real
Short marriages are a trade mark of teen moms. Maybe these moms go into their marriages thinking it’s for real? Or maybe they’re trying to fulfill a fantasy by marrying the fathers of their children. Either way, getting married and then divorced seems to be a trend. Some teen moms are on their fourth or fifth engagement, while others are on their second marriages by 18.
We hate to generalize, but it seems like most teen parents don’t have a hard time finding a new relationship, but plenty of difficulty maintaining it. Then again, that might be another symptom of troubled teens becoming moms for attention. With MTV waving money at them for air time, and audiences buying into it as “entertainment,” we’re not surprised to see their marriages failing after mere months.
5 Forget College, Become An Adult Entertainer
First Farrah Abraham announced her porn film, then she started a line of adult toys. She even brought her young daughter to the meeting when talking money about her appearance in a porno. Then Amber Portwood indulged rumors about an adult film featuring her and current partner Matt Baier, although the film hasn’t been made yet (we hope).
With these famous teen moms, it seems like nothing is beneath them when it comes to making money. The moms who have gone to college seem to have some educational goals at least, but have any started a career? It’s giving other young moms the wrong message- that all you have to do to make money is sell your body and let the cash roll in. Not a good look when you have young kids.
4 Living With The Labels
What is it about society labeling moms as “teen” moms? There’s a reality show featuring them, TV shows and movies with tragic teen moms as plot points. If we could just call all moms “moms” then maybe this division between teen moms and “everyone else” would stop.
And at what point is a teen mom not actually a teen mom anymore? Many of the moms on MTV’s show are into their 20’s now, so aren’t they considered adults? It’s divisive and kind of unnecessary to keep labeling moms as teen moms when they’re not 16 anymore. We all learn and grow as moms, so the women that these teens grow into have done plenty of growing, and still have a lot more to do. Just like every other parent does!
3 Physical Violence Doesn’t Solve Anything
We can’t even count the times that teen moms in the media have gone off on their boyfriends or their parents. Screaming and yelling seems bad enough, but plenty of the moms off MTV’s Teen Mom shows have been busted for getting violent on set. One notable example is Amber Portwood’s aggression toward baby daddy and then-boyfriend Gary. Later on we found out Amber had a ton of other issues she was dealing with, but that doesn’t explain wailing on her boyfriend because she couldn’t get him to listen the way she wanted.
Word to the wise, physical violence won’t win you anything. Especially when it’s on TV, and you have a child who’s caught in the middle. Hopefully Amber learned from that run-in with criminal charges, but then again, she ended up in jail later anyway so who knows what was going through her mind.
2 Indecisiveness Comes With Youth
We’re not talking choosing a dress for prom or where to go for spring break. Teens who get pregnant while still in high school have a lot to think about. For two of Teen Mom’s original stars, Catelynn and Tyler, giving up their daughter Carly was the only decision that made sense at the time. But now, they’re married and have a daughter that they’re raising together. With the ups and downs of the open adoption of their first daughter, Catelynn and Tyler now wonder “what if.”
Giving a child up for adoption isn’t something to be taken lightly, and although Tyler and Cate seemed to have thought it through, we’re betting they’d do anything to reverse the decision now. Being a teen in an unstable home environment and not having any control over it, these two did what they felt they had to for their daughter’s wellbeing.
1 Piling On The Drama
From constant arguments to actual physical punches thrown, teen moms on TV are under a constant spotlight where drama and gossip abound. Relationships come and go, friendships fall apart. Sure, older moms might have their own drama too. But let’s be honest, there’s way more drama with younger generations just because of their immaturity. There are numerous accounts of feuding between cast members of the Teen Mom shows, when their BFF selfies are still floating around online.
There’s also the aspect of co-parenting between teens. Many of MTV’s stars separated from their baby daddies, only to butt heads later on when new girlfriends, fiancees, or new wives were introduced. We suppose we just have to wait on these kids to mature, and hopefully it happens before their kids grow up too.