Bachelor star Alex Nation has opened up about falling pregnant at 18 and the cruel reaction she received from those close to her as well as strangers.
The now 25-year-old single mum says that many of her friends struggled with the idea that she was pregnant, and strangers would go up to her and her mum.
โI had women go up to my mum when we were in the supermarket, and they would be like, โOh that is a real shameโ,โ she tells the Daily Mail.
โAnd my mum would be like, โNo she is fineโ.โ
But it was also those closest to her that doubted her ability to cope with becoming a mother at such a young age.
โI found that people who I would catch up with every now and then were saying, โShe is throwing her life away, she wonโt amount to anythingโ,โ she recalls.
โEven my mumโs friends were like, โOh, what is she going to do with her life?โโ
Alex admits that motherhood wasnโt without its struggles (which FYI is a fact no matter what your age).
โWhen Elijah was probably three-weeks-old, I remember being exhausted โฆ I said to Joel, โI am so tired, I just canโt do this. I canโt do thisโ,โ she recalls.
Alex split with her husbund Joel in 2011 and is now in a relationship with Bachelor Richie Strahan, who recently met Elijah, five.
โIn an ideal world, you want your child to grow up with an intact family, but two really happy and loving homes is better than one unhappy home,โ she added.