Erica Garcia, 16
6 and a half months pregnant 
Watsonville High School
For 16 year old Erica Garcia, finding out she was 
pregnant was the biggest shock of her life. “I never 
thought I would end up pregnant,” she said “fue algo 
inesperado.” Erica was not using any type of birth 
control, which she now regrets because that could have 
prevented a huge change in her life.
The first thing she did when she found out was tell 
her boyfriend, who is 19.  He was as surprised as she 
was—he wasn’t ready to become a Daddy. When they 
started dating, her boyfriend would always mention 
that he wanted to have a baby, but once his wish came 
true, he panicked. So much so that the possibility of 
abortion went through his mind. But Erica didn’t want 
to have an abortion. Though Erica is still dating the 
baby’s father, he is not actively involved with their 
child.
Although Erica has supportive parents who help her, 
financially and in other ways, her mother is still sad 
and feels let down by her daughter, whom she never 
thought would  become pregnant as a teenager.
Now six and a half months pregnant, Erica is not the 
same teenager she used to be. “I can’t go out anymore. 
And my dream of going to college seems harder to 
reach.” She is now planning to use birth control after 
she has her baby. She says she will keep on using it 
because she would not like to have a second baby—at 
least not anytime soon.  “Lo único que les puedo decir 
es que se protejan, y que se fijen con cual muchacho 
andan, porque es muy bonito de la manera en que 
hablan. Pero después, muy pocos de ellos son los que 
están dispuestos a seguir a tu lado.”
Yuliana Valdovinos, 17
Mother of a one-year old baby
Watsonville High School 
Yuliana Valdovinos is a senior at Watsonville High, 
but unlike most girls at her young age, Yuliana has 
already formed a family. She’s 17 years old. She lives 
with her boyfriend Ignacio, 21, and has a one-year old 
baby, also named Ignacio after his dad.
At the beginning of her relationship, Yuliana and her 
boyfriend were using condoms to avoid pregnancy, but 
they stopped and a surprise came along. “My boyfriend 
was the first one to know I was pregnant,” she 
says, “he knew even before I did.” He noticed symptoms 
in me that I hadn’t even noticed, and told me “Estas 
embarazada.” They both went to the clinic so that she 
could get tested. The test turned out positive.
The father,Ignacio, works to support Yuliana and her 
son, whom she brings along to school every day. 
Yuliana’s relationship with her own father was never 
very good. She was worried that their relationship 
would get worse when he found out she had gotten 
pregnant. But instead, they became closer, which is 
one good thing that came out of her situation.
“I love my boyfriend, I love my baby, and I love my 
life.” Yuliana said as her final thought. “But I think 
it might have been better for all three of us, if this 
would’ve happened in a different period of time—maybe 
a couple of years later.” 
Angelica Nava, 16
Mother of a two-year old baby 
Watsonville High School
“I had my baby when I was 14 years old. My mom cried 
and so did I, because we never thought it would happen 
to me,” says Angelica Nava, now 16, who lives with her 
parents and her two year old daughter, Brenda Gomez.
Angelica’s case is a bit different from the others. 
She has had very little contact with her daughter’s 
father since Brenda was born. Her daughter’s dad was 
25 years old and she was only 14 when she became 
pregnant. He was happy when he found out he would be a 
Dad, but he was put on Probation. The court prohibited 
him from coming near Angelica and the baby, even 
though he does want to see them (or so he says in the 
letters that he sometimes still writes to her).
“I now have another boyfriend. And even though he 
loves my daughter just as if she were his, I plan to 
tell her the truth. And I’d like her to have good 
communication with her real dad when she’s older,” 
Angelica says.
Angelica never used any source of birth control 
before. Realizing that pregnancy is something that can 
happen to anyone—including her, she has changed her 
mind.  Now she protects herself with condoms.
One of the main reasons Angelica wishes she had waited 
until she was older, is that her mother cannot help 
out because she works. Instead, Angelica has to bring 
the baby to school every day. “They help us out here 
[at Watsonville High] and they take care of our 
babies, but I know that nobody will attend to her as 
well as I would myself.”