MONTGOMERY, AL—Conveying her concerns that the additional obstacles presented by parenthood would be too much to bear, 12-year-old abuse survivor Abigail Dunn was reportedly worried Wednesday that she wouldn’t be able to handle being a mom on top of everything else she had going on. “I have several book reports and a big algebra test coming up in the next few weeks, and I had even been thinking about trying out for my school’s chorus, but giving birth and caring for an infant is going to really cut into my studying time,” said the seventh-grader, who acknowledged that the intense feelings of shame and fear associated with trauma had already placed her significantly behind her peers and added that there would likely be even greater challenges to raising the offspring of the man who attacked her. “This year has been hard in a lot of ways. We had to move to a new neighborhood, and my family life has been very, very bad, especially recently. My relationship with my stepdad is pretty much a nightmare. I wish I were responsible enough to look after a baby, but I’m just so scared that I won’t be. I’m really sorry.” At press time, Dunn had expressed hope that her unborn child would be friends with the babies of all her fellow pregnant classmates.

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