This is a guest blog submitted by sleepyhead.By now most of us have heard about VP candidate Sarah
Palin's 17-year-old daughter, Bristol. Sarah
Palin has confirmed her daughter is 5 months pregnant and that the young man
who impregnated her daughter is planning to marry her. I wonder if
he's marrying her out of his own accord or being forced by Palin's
family.
His parents say they were planning to marry before she got
pregnant. Yeah, sure...If that were the case, then why did it take so
long for her pregnancy and his would-be propsal to be announced?
I
guess this is what happens when you mess around with the daughter of a possible future vice president. It also doesn't help that Sarah
Palin is pro-life and ultra conservative. This guy has no choice but to
marry Bristol Palin.
That's a very difficult situation to have put
both children in. Does the daughter even want the child? Sarah Palin
says her daughter does, but have we heard from Bristol about the
matter? Politics is all a game and Bristol could ruin her mother's
chance at becoming vice president if she'd decided to abort the child. So
it's probably better to have the child than ruin political chances by
aborting it.
I wouldn't want to be in that guy's position.
It's tough enough having to deal with a teenage pregnancy in private, but having the entire country - probably the entire world - know about it must make it even worse.
Personally,
I don't agree that a guy has to marry a girl if gets her pregnant. But
at the same time, I don't think he should run out on her - he should be
there for the child and mother without the pressure of marriage by
their parents. It should be something they decide on their own.
Divorce runs
rampant today because people are in situations they no longer want to be in.
Forcing this couple to marry may force them into divorce a few years
down the road.
Girls, would you want your BF to marry you if he got you pregnant? Guys, do you think you should marry a girl if you get her pregnant?
And do you think Bristol Palin's boyfriend is being forced to marry her?
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Comments (100)
pregnancy shouldn't be the reason for marriage ... love and overall compatibility is.
granted, i'm married, so this is no longer a factor, but ... if i would have gotten pregnant pre-marriage, i wouldn't have married the father UNLESS i felt we could make a relationship between us work long-term.
NEVER. Marriage and pregnancy are two separate issues entirely. If the two people aren't going to work together they could seriously confuse the child. My EX is having a baby with another girl right now and my only wish to him was that he didn't jump into marriage. He said he wouldnt, but its still concerning. A lot of people get so enamored during the 9 months that they believe they are in love "forever" when really it's just the baby holding their relationship together.
To me, there's no point getting married if it's not going to work out well. Pregnant or not.
And, I definitely agree that the guy should at least be responsible and help with the child.
I agree, a pregnancy should not be the reason for a marriage. No one should feel force into marriage for any reason! I do feel sorry for the young couple. Being a pregnant teen is hard enough without it being so public.
That said, I was 17 and 5 months pregnant when I married my husband. We were already planning our wedding when I discovered I was pregnant. We talked at length about it and decided to move the date up 7 months. It was our decision, no one forced us. A lot of people assume that we married because of our son. We married because we love each other, baby or not.
Here's an idea: don't have sex with someone you wouldn't marry!
I think it is great they are getting married.
I do have a few points to make though.
1. I don't think he is being forced to marry her
2. People shouldnt be having sex before they are married in the first place.
Sex before Marriage is a sin. The bible is very clear on that. If people would follow that the world would be a better place.
@Nikolais_apprentice@xanga - I would revise that to don't have sex until you are married.
because i was raised in a conservative, catholic household, i still think it's wrong on some level to get pregnant outside of marriage, but if it does happen, i also believe that just because you get pregnant/somebody gets you pregnant doesn't mean you two absolutely have to get married. what's done is done, and the parents will have a relationship anyway. being forced into what is supposed to be a lifelong commitment with another person just causes trouble for everybody involved.
not sure on whether or not bristol's boyfriend is being forced to marry her though...married or unmarried, he can't run out on the grandchild of a VP candidate!
@Kristenmomof3@xanga - you can believe what you want, but please don't force your views on others. everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and not everybody follows the teachings of the Bible.
I don't think we can judge Bristol Palin & her boyfriend for what happened. After all, we're not them.. they could be in love for all we know. Yea, the timing isn't really the best but again, who are we to know what's the real story? Just because her mom's the Republican VP candidate, she's suddenly thrust in the spotlight & her situation is magnified 100x.. so how would you feel if you were in her shoes & everyone's speculating about this? So I'd rather not judge. Besides, we've got bigger issues to worry about... like the upcoming election?
As for the hypothetical situation, it would have to depend on how committed we are to each other & how much we love each other & if we could make it work. But seeing as I don't plan on getting preggers before marriage, I don't see that happening. :)
Why, because the young man is sticking by her, do you assume he is being "forced"? Is it so strange that an 18-year-old should have the same moral values as his girlfriend's parents? (I know my HS boyfriend did. Wouldn't have been dating him otherwise.) Maybe, just maybe, he loves her, they share their beliefs about the sanctity of life and marriage, and they really do want to get married and stay that way.
And obviously, the situation existed at least 4 months before Sarah Palin even knew she would be in this situation herself. I don't think she was sneakily manipulating him just in case she was nominated.
Instead of asking whether he is being manipulated, why not commend the guy for his amazing courage and strength of character!
He probably is being forced to. That's what happens when you don't learn how to use contraception.
@Kristenmomof3@xanga - That's nice. But your book is corrupted and things don't always work out for the best after marriage. I agree with fayebernouli, please don't force your views on others when they don't agree, it's called respect.
Um, it takes two to have sex. So if I got pregnant by my boyfriend, no, I don't think that I would want to be married because an accident happened. I'd probably have an abortion (the stress I put on my body probably makes it an unfit pre-natal environment, anyway, and I'm not putting my life on hold for a cluster of cells).
@Kristenmomof3@xanga - That's what I meant but you say that online and get attacked for it!
@eclectic_eccentric@xanga - I'd bet your high school boyfriend didn't knock you up, either.
Yes, the guy should marry the girl. I know a lot of people will say, "But if he doesn't love her....", to which I'd respond, "Then why did they hop into the sack together?" At any rate, I know if I had gotten a girl pregnant before now, I would have married her, and done my best to support her and the baby, and love them both. It isn't really about the pregnancy in and of itself, but about responsibility. If a guy is "man enough" to sack the girl and further "man enough" to get her with child, then he ought to be "man enough" and take up his fatherly responsibility to both the child and the mother...and ditto that for the girl involved, as well...
Amen, Kristenmomof3@xanga!!! Well said in all your posts, speficially the first one!!!!
How about some proof that
What does eclectic_eccentric@xanga probably not having been KU'ed by her boyfriend have to do with anything, la_faerie_joyeuse@xanga? Some people do make good choices with their lives, you know....
As far as Bristol Palin, and her boyfriend and their getting married, she is only 17, and probably still in High School with classes to finish and graduation coming up. Certainly, that would figure into marriage plans, would it not?
@Nikolais_apprentice@xanga - Well, it's one thing to say, "That's why I plan to/did wait until marriage before having vaginal intercourse."
It's another to imply that people are stupid, immoral, or wrong for having premarital sex. Honestly, they WERE stupid for not adequately protecting themselves. But many people, myself included, have sex as part of long-term, committed, monogamous, exclusive relationships - even non-marital relationships. And many of these people use more than one method of birth control. It's really not up to you or anyone else to judge the actions of consenting adults.
Does it make sense now why people might get upset if you say something like that?
Agreed, a guy shouldn't marry his gf if he got her pregnant, but he shouldn't run away either. Aside from any other religious rulings and what not, nowhere in the Constitution does it state that the guy has to marry the girl. Honestly, Levy could easily walk away from Bristol right now. Obviously, it's a much tougher situation for Bristol because of the election and her mother's platform of pro-life. Yes, sometimes the guy gets trapped, but I'm sure he would've walked away from the thought of marriage if he really didn't want to go through with it and could just stick around to be the father/supporter of the baby as opposed to being the husband as well. And let's be honest here, most of the time, forced marriages because of unplanned pregnancy don't always work out and at times the child is raised in a hostile household. So what's better, the mother and father supporting the child, but not be married to each other, or a volatile environment?
@Nikolais_apprentice@xanga - oh well, If get attacked for it then I do.
I don't care. I speak the truth either way. If people want to attack me for it, that is on them.
interesting post!!!!
bumping heads with my mom with certain issues concerning "what would others' think", i'm sure requiring for the boyfriend to suddenly marry bristol is going on. can you just imagine the team jumping on the palin family & trying to make it look like they are the ideal family the country would be willing to look up to.
i feel bad for the boyfriend as well & bristol ...
I think he is being morally guilt tripped into marrying her honestly. No, I dont think he should. I was a teenage mother and I am happy being single with my girls now. It's stupid to marry someone you dont love knowing eventually down the line you will spend all that money getting a divorce, make the kids upset thinking it's their fault and make everything even worse.
I strongly disagree with marrying because of a pregnancy, so no I would not.
As to whether or not Palin's baby daddy is being forced to marry her I have no idea and don't really care as it is not my business.
Enjoyed the post!
I married my husband ONLY because I was pregnant.
Yesterday we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary- and we are happy.
We also have 4 more children.
Like most things in life, divorce is a choice, marriage is a choice, sex is a choice- they all have consequences, some good and some bad.
You make choices and you live with consequences. You make compromises and work together.
Sadly he's most likely getting paid off to marry her and after the whole thing blows over they'll get a quite divorce or something
Pregnancy definitely should not be the reason why two people get married. I believe he's being forced to marry her. Before the pregnancy was announced you didn't even know about him and now that it's known that she pregnant all of a sudden he's going to the Republican National Convention. I mean he definitely shouldn't run away from the responsibility of the pregnancy but I couldn't marriage is the right answer to it.
You knocked up my daughter and are destroying my political ambitions...on the next episode of Jerry Springer.