Melissa's Diary, Part 1: Teen Mom > Comments > "Review of Melissa in New Haven: Teen Mom"
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- Sarah Elzas
- Username: sce11
- Location: Paris, France
- Joined PRX: Apr 01, 2004
Piece Information
- "Melissa's Diary, Part 1: Teen Mom"
- Summary: Melissa didn't mean to get pregnant. After 12 years of living in the foster care system, she's trying to build the family she never had. "The funny thing about a having a baby, especially a boy, is that he always pisses on me. Always. Any time I change him, he's always peeing on me. I don't know why. He's marking his territory. Like he says, 'This is mine.'" Melissa first recorded with Radio Diaries in the late 1990's. Now 16 years later we're giving her a microphone again to hear what's happened since and how much has changed. Audio here includes her original diary and our recent podcast, where we meet the Melissa of today. This story is part of the Teenage Diaries series produced by Radio Diaries for NPR.
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Review of Melissa in New Haven: Teen Mom
Sarah Elzas
Posted on April 09, 2004 at 03:34 PM
Melissa's story is unique, but it also brings out universal aspects of teenaged motherood: I listened to this piece with a teenaged mom and the instructor at her school, a high school for teenaged moms, and they both recognized a lot in this piece.
The story is well told and sound-rich with parts of Melissa's life, including even the birth of her child. Melissa is realistic about her situation, but it is clear that she is determined to be a great mother. This is a great piece to stand on its own, or in a series on youth or motherhood.