Teenage Diaries Revisited Listen to Melissa's diary 16 years later »

Teen Mom

Melissa never meant to get pregnant. But now, after 12 years of living in the foster care system, she’s trying to build the family she never had.

“The funny thing about a having a baby, especially a boy, is that he always pisses on me. Always. Any time I change him, he’s always peeing on me. I don’t know why. He’s marking his territory. Like he says, ‘This is mine.'” This story originally aired on NPR’s All Things Considered in 1996.

Raising Issaiah

This is Melissa’s second audio diary. Her son Issaiah is now one-year-old.

“I’m a really selfish person…I want to be treated as the baby. I want to be spoiled. I want to have everything I want. And now it’s like, you know, he’s got to be spoiled. He’s gotta have everything he wants. It’s always his way. But it doesn’t really bother me. He’s part of me, you know, it’s like, that’s me, right there, so I feel like my selfishness is just going towards him.” This story originally aired on NPR’s All Things Considered in 1997.