A teen mum has gone viral on TikTok after sharing a video of her taking her toddler as her date to her school prom.
Melissa Mccabe, 16, from Tranmere, fell pregnant at 14 before giving birth to one-year-old Arthur in November 2020. Despite discovering she was pregnant at such a young age, Melissa describes her son as her "little blessing" and told the ECHO she wanted him to "be a part" of her special day.
She said: "When prom came around, no one could really have him and I wanted him to be a part of my prom day. I ordered him a suit and took him with me. All of the teachers were saying how gorgeous he looked.
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“It was honestly so cute having him with me and getting pictures taken together because we don’t really have any nice up-to-date pictures of us. He loved it and he particularly loved all the snacks!”
Melissa shared the video on TikTok and the clip has already received more than 220k likes and a staggering 1.6m views.
She said: “I’ve had the odd couple of negative comments but I’ve also had messages off girls who are pregnant and are still in school and are worried about going back to school. I’ve mainly had loads of people being really supportive which is really nice because it's coming from people I don’t know.”
After discovering she was pregnant in the middle of lockdown, Melissa was inundated with negative comments about the impact of having a child so young. However, the former Ridgeway High School student is keen to break the stigma that surrounds being a teen mum.
Melissa said: "I had Arthur at 15. I’ve just sort of done it on my own really, with my brother and sister-in-law’s support.
“When I found out I was pregnant obviously I was really young. It was hard because everyone told me I was ruining my life and I wasn’t going to get my GCSEs. So many people make comments when I’m out with him.
"Often people think he’s my little brother and when I tell them he’s mine their attitude completely changes. Older people especially find it disgusting because obviously their way was to get married first and then have kids."
Despite the criticism that sometimes comes with being a teen mum, Melissa was delighted with the supportive response she and Arthur received when they arrived for the prom at Thornton Hall on June, 30.
She said: “It was so nice because people who I don’t normally even speak to were coming up and saying how cute Arthur is and saying how proud they are of me.
"I couldn’t have asked for better support from my teachers at school. My deputy head and my form tutor especially have been so supportive throughout it all. They’re the people who’ve got me through the bad times being a mum.”
After completing her GCSE'S last month, Melissa has secured a place to study Health and Social Care at college in September. Although she is proud of what she's achieved as a teen mum, she is incredibly grateful for the help she's received from her brother and sister-in-law who have been a massive support since Arthur was born.
She told the ECHO: “I am proud of myself because when I found out I was pregnant I thought that was it. I was thinking I wouldn’t be able to go back to school but when I looked into it I realised there’s ways that you can do it. I’ve got my place in college in September so I’m looking forward to that.
"Especially considering Arthur only has one parent, I think I’ve done a good job. It has been difficult but I’ve managed to get through my exams. My brother and sister-in-law had him the night before my exams so I could revise. I wouldn’t have done as well if I didn’t have their support.
“Arthur is genuinely the most kind-hearted little boy. He loves everyone around him and he’s so spoiled.”
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