A THOUSAND anxious thoughts entered Ashleigh Bates’ head when the pregnancy test turned blue. But she didn’t have time to stop and think as the school bell had just rung for her next lesson.
This was the scenario in 2007, when, aged 16 and just months before sitting her GCSE exams, she discovered she was expecting her first child.
Ashleigh had only just started to get her life back on track after a troubled time in her early teens. She was dreaming about the future and a successful career but the unexpected news threatened to shatter her plans.
“A lady in school gave me a pregnancy test and I went down to the toilets by PE and took it and it came up that I was pregnant,” explained the former Welshpool High School pupil.
“I sat there for a bit and thought oh my God and I went back up to see her and showed her the test and I burst into tears and I was like what am I going to do and what am I going to tell people?
“I then went home and told my ex partner and he was just like what are we going to do? And we decided to keep it and that was it. It was a scary, scary day.”
Although shocked by the news, Ashleigh’s family and former partner, who she was living with, were supportive but her school friends were more scathing.
And as well as coping with all these emotions, and, before she could even start planning for the big day, she still had her GCSE exams to sit.
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