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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to be so pissed off that my cousin and her 'fiance' are part of whats wrong with society?

159 replies

CrapBag · 21/06/2011 19:31

I'll be honest, I don't think teenage pregnancy is a good thing. I am the result of a teenage pregnancy and I am very bitter about it tbh. I had a really really shit life for the first few years and it has left with with a lot of emotional scars.

My 16 year old cousin met a bloke (he is 20) about 3-4 months ago. Within weeks she was engaged to him and living in his bedsit (with my aunts approval as she decided she couldn't stop her). Now my cousin is pregnant, it was planned. Neither of them work. His solution is to get a grant the are apparently going to be entitled to and his sister is moving out her of 2 bedroom council flat so he is going to try and get that.

Unfortunately I don't live in the same place as them as if I knew him I would tell him to get off his lazy ass, stop getting drunk and playing x box and get a fucking job. But no, they are perfectly happy to bring a baby into the world knowing full well they cannot support it. My cousin is very young for her years and the laziest person I know. She couldn't even handle that doll thing you can get from school that is suppose to be like a baby. She had it for one night and it cried loads and she tried to switch it off which didn't work so she just buried it under a load of blankets. I know it wasn't real but if she couldn't handle that for one night, what hope is she going to have of looking after a real baby that you can't stuff under some blankets when it won't stop crying.

I'm sure that there are people who had babies in their teens where it has turned out ok, but I know my cousin only too well. This isn't going to turn out well. He is only the latest in a long line of boys that she 'loves'.

It pisses me right off.

OP posts:
itisnearlysummer · 22/06/2011 13:44

I think in the OP's situation I'd feel the same.

One element of my work involves working with teenage mums and the vast majority of them need a lot of support. Yes, they can be good mums, but very rarely on their own without far more support than most older mums get/need.

Most of us made mistakes in our teens, that's the nature of teens. We grow up, we grow out of them and we find our way. Unfortunately, when your mistake results in a human life (not saying the mistake is the human life) it's not as simple.

This isn't like dropping out of 6th form and then later deciding you want to go to university, or dying your hair blue before shaving it all off and having your face pierced. This is a person.

corygal · 22/06/2011 14:10

OP - YANBU. The poor baby. Be nice tho', the kid will need it.

As for the poor taxpayer, not quite as much sympathy from me but still some. Benefit abuse isn't OK - I find it really odd when people think it is.

CrapBag · 22/06/2011 14:26

Ok, going to try and answer some of the stuff from posts, can't remember it all though.

Someone asked if I am a young mum. No I am in my late 20's with 2 young children.

My aunt was also not a young mum, she was well into her 30's when she had her 2 children. She did a good job at first, my 2 cousins were lovely children. Unfortunately, as they got older, she changed and let them do what they wanted. The result is my cousin in the OP and her older brother who I do like but he has some horrible traits about him.

The OP probably didn't come across how I wanted it to. I was angry and annoyed as I do believe my cousin is being manupulated by her 'fiance'. I just think that he wanted her to have his baby within weeks of them getting together and then when she does get pregnant, the first thing he does is say about the benefits and housing he is going for. His bedsit isn't council, someone asked that earlier. He gets my cousin to go to her parents for money (his mum died years ago, no idea about his dad or the rest of his family, I know he is in touch with his sister).

I know that many many people have had babies young and managed, but I also KNOW my cousin only too well. This outcome was always inevitable (not that I ever said that to her). I know what the results will be. I truely believe her 'fiance' is using her to get better housing and benefits and as he is older and she is very very young and naive for her age, she is easy to manipulate but she is also very strong willed. She actually believes that he is a model and his agent has a helicopter. He certainly doesn't do any modelling work. I am worried about the tattoos as it is clear she doesn't like the one on her leg and they are in really obvious places, not easy to hide at all, but she won't listen.

I also get worried as my other cousin had a baby with his 16 year old girlfriend (at the time) and she has now moved out, left him with their DS and when she has him at weekends, she dumps him on babysitters so she can go out on the piss. The DS's uncle has him sometimes and the mother doesn't look after her DS properly as she really isn't that bothered about him.

I have also seen people on here screaming 'leave him' for far less and I am very surprised at the reaction tbh. I was very angry and annoyed last night which is why I get so fed up. No one seemed to believe that it had nothing to do with benefit bashing by stealth. There is a thread on chat at the moment where the OP is asking about getting a tattoo and all anyone is saying is about how awful they are, tacky, ugly etc etc, but here, when I mention that her 'fiance' is practising his tattooing on a naive 16 year old, I get jumped on about it.

It has also been brought up about how can I be close to her/have said nothing good about her. The OP wasn't to come on here and praise her good points. I am close to her. I used to drive to pick her up (she lives a few hours away) a couple times of year and let her stay with me for the week. I often use to go and stay at their house. When she used to come down with her mum, I always let her stay with me even though I didn't have enough room, she would just stay in the front room. We are close but she is also a typical teenager who thinks she is right and won't listen to anybody so at the moment, I can't really give her advice. I am also worried that her 'fiance' won't want her to listen to others as my aunt has said (and my cousins friend had a word with my aunt that her friends are worried about her) that he very controlling. I can't see him wanting 'interference' from others.

OP posts:
JamieAgain · 22/06/2011 16:01

No 16 years old and pregnant is not ideal, but why can't you just put your own seeming dislike of your cousin aside for the sake of the baby, and just help her.

Instead of coming on here, bitching about her and then having hissy fits because we don't all agree with you.

I think that the two (bitching mn, supporting in RL ) aren't mutually exclusive. OP wanted to have a vet and has done so.

JamieAgain · 22/06/2011 16:02

vent, not vet

paisleyII · 22/06/2011 16:11

i agree with op - so what if she is benefit bashing, she is right to be pissed off

JoySzasz · 22/06/2011 17:11

Thank you for your latest post:)

As I said earlier, (and I agree with you) only you know what the situation is like.

I have no idea why the thread kicked off like it did?

I still blame the weatherWink

However, I think your title didn't help...it should have been more along the lines of "How can I help my cousin?"

And (of course) that is not really an AIBU so we are back where we started.

Really good luck,you sound like you are going to there for her.

I personally would see a nightmare waiting to happen too...it is understandable that you have been concerned.:)

TheBigJessie · 22/06/2011 19:07

The whole thing is awful. I remember your previous threads about your aunt encouraging her to become pregnant. Maybe last year? It was a while ago.

CrapBag · 22/06/2011 19:26

Blimey you remember that! It was last year I think. Pretty sure it was before I had DD so must have been last year.

It almost seems like my aunt has got her 'wish' tbh. I'm sure she wanted this to happen. She thrives on drama and doesn't have much in her life at all.

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