Okay, before anyone freaks out...the birth control was for me!
Granted, having a foster child can be the perfect birth control (kidding!), but I got the "depo" shot every three months. Now I don't really take it for birth control - I take it to avoid what I see as something totally and painfully unnecessary: the period!
Abby knows I am not especially "active" (sexually). I am open with her about being on the shot, and why, but more importantly, I want her to know it's okay with me if she wants to go on birth control.
When I first found out Abby was having sex (mind you, she started having sex at 11!), I was mortified. Okay, I know "all" the kids are doing it these days, but not my little Abby! Actually the problem is how it all came about and the problems her "activity" was causing. Her mother (my sister-in-law) had constantly been telling me, "Annie, I think she's pregnant!" or "she got gonnorhea." I ever so bluntly told her, "what you need to do is get her on birth control!" She agreed, but couldn't do it, because Abby wouldn't cooperate. She refused to have an exam. I told my sister-in-law, Candy, in no uncertain terms, "You don't give her a chance to refuse! You are the parent. She is a child." But alas, Candy wasn't strong enough to insist on Abby's reproductive health. I vowed that if I ever got her, "the first thing I'll do is get her on depo!"
Soon after Abby came to live with me, I asked, "so have you ever considered getting on birth control?" She was very forthright and told me she actually wants to be on birth control (Hallelujah!). I told her this would not be a license for "free sex," and she understood. But, I'm not an idiot. I know that, God Forbid, if she ever gets out of my sight, she might go off and have sex (or worse, in my opinion, she may begin another sexual relationship), and as I told her "I do not want to be a foster grandma!"
She knows she has made some mistakes (having sex at such a young ages, actually contracting STDs, among other things), but she seems to have her head on her shoulders.
Luckily, both her parents seem to agree that birth control is a good idea. Of course, her father (my brother) is worried about her having sex. I explained my rationale to him, and he seemed to agree...
So, while the birth control was all about me today, I want to get her on it asap and make sure she is healthy in that area....
TO BE CONTINUED....
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