Dear Diary, I'm Pregnant: Teenagers Talk About Their Pregnancy

by Anrenee Englander

In poignant and insightful interviews, Anrénee Englander presents the voices of ten pregnant teens as they discuss their experiences and choices around motherhood, adoption and abortion. First published to critical acclaim in 1997, this new edition contains the original interviews as well as d material including a resources section. Presenting different points of view, Dear Diary, I’m Pregnant is a non-judgmental source of information for all teens that provides support and guidance for those who find themselves in this situation. Chosen by The New York Public Library’s “Books for the Teen Age” list and hailed by The Globe and Mail for its “…frank, revealing and brave conversations,” this is a must-read book for young women looking for reassurance that they are not alone.

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1997

About the author

Anrenée, the fourth of seven children, was born and raised in Toronto where she still makes her home. As a child, she enjoyed inventing board and card games, reading, and playing baseball. Among her favorite books were Where the Wild Things Are, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Charlotte’s Web, and Winnie the Pooh—and to this day, they are still her favorites.

Anrenée was strongly influenced by her mother, who taught her not to let anyone stand in the way of what she believed in or wanted to do. She also taught Anrenée to never let fear stop her from doing anything; just because something hasn’t been done before, that doesn’t mean you can’t be the first to do it—and you don’t have to wait for permission to try.

Dear Diary, I’m Pregnant (Reissue 2010) emerged out of a need that Anrenée recognized after three young women she knew came to her telling her that they were pregnant and needed help. Each girl had a very different experience and lived a different life, but all of them needed the same type of help; they needed to make a decision about what to do with their pregnancy. In each instance, Anrenée went searching for material that she could give them that would help them understand the consequences of their choices. Ultimately, she realized that there was a very strong need for a book that could help other young women make what was often the biggest decision of their lives.

Anrenée considers the creation of Dear Diary, I’m Pregnant the most difficult but also the most rewarding thing she has every done. The hardest part was listening to the stories without trying to give advice. She had to continually remind the girls and herself that she was only there as a vehicle for them to tell their story to other girls. It was equally difficult to keep her own opinions and biases in check when she was editing the girls’ stories.

The one obstacle that Anrenée was never able to overcome was finding a girl who admitted to regretting becoming a teenage mother. That girl never came forward to be interviewed. The thing that fills her with pride is that with her book, she has been able to help thousands of teenagers make one of the hardest decisions they will ever have to make.

Anrenée’s advice to aspiring authors is “Go with your gut! Don’t let anyone or anything stop you. Never give in to the idea that obstacles are put before you as a sign that you are not doing the right thing. Instead believe that they are simply there to weed out the weak and the less confident.”

Besides writing, Anrenée works as a Senior Project and IT Development Manager. In her spare time, she loves to watch movies. Her plans for the future include possibly writing a Dear Diary for boys.

Reviews

[Josie Mae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dear Diary, I’m Pregnant is an informational book comprised of a series of interviews conducted by Anrenee Englander. Like with the previous book, she was drawn to the interviews because there wasn’t any literature, nonfiction or otherwise, for pregnant teens. Also like with the last book, this has changed drastically with the internet and television shows like Teen Mom, which statistics show has lowered teen pregnancy rates in the United States. While a short book, the interviews are authentic and deep to the point where it surprises the reader to realize there are only 10 interviews. The cover is cute and cartoon like. The book’s original publication was in 1997, with a republication in 2010; it is amazing to realize that the teenagers, babies, and toddlers in the book are at least 20 years older now. Even knowing this, these teens stories, the book’s information, and the experiences discussed all feel very relevant to present day teenagers and experiences. Throughout the interviews, Englander is very careful not to insert her own views, only sharing the teens reflections on their choices of abortion, adoption, or keeping the baby. The book successfully maintains a balance between pro-choice and pro-life, leaving it to the reader to make their own decisions, and ending the book with a short section on information and resources. The only small criticism I have is how cutesy the book is in certain parts while they are talking about some very emotional and sometimes heartbreaking subjects. An interviewee will be talking about how heartbroken she was after an abortion and how she couldn’t forgive herself and in the margins, there are doodles of shooting stars and headphones, which is a bit of a mockery of the speaker and the subject. Overall, I would recommend this book to teen readers and anyone interested, but would probably emphasize the importance of more resources, which are up-to-date as of 2010 and included in the back of the book, for anyone reading it for anything beyond entertainment or curiosity.

[Rat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be very interesting and informative, it offers a complex insight to what girls going through teen pregnancy must experience. I liked that fact that it wasn't pro-life, abortion or adoption, it instead showed all of them. Letting you make your own decision.

I am sure this book helped many pregnant teenagers, even if it is now a fair bit out dated. I would recommend reading this even if you are mildly curious, as it is a very easy, but enjoyable, read.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is so good its kind of sad but these girls made good decisions

[Taneka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many times in society we judge people that give birth out of wedlock. Although it is few and far between now, it still occurs, especially with our young people. We don’t condemn the baby after it is born, but we do condemn the act by which the pregnancy occurred. That is why I love this book. It teaches people NOT to judge. Unless you know the pregnant teen personally, there is no way of knowing how it happened (Virgin Mary, if you believe in that sort of thing) and by what means (rape, incest, love making, etc.). I thought about this string of media publicized rapes that have been happening in our country. For some odd reason, the women have been blamed. There is even one story of a young lady committing suicide, because she was being bullied about coming forward. So imagine you are raped and become pregnant because of it.

The story of Samantha in this book, she is minding her own business when she is hit from behind and blacks out. She awakens only to find her headset is missing. Thinking she is robbed she goes home and that is when she sees the blood and realizes she has been raped. Do you get rid of the “thing” growing inside of you? I believe most people would have, but if your choice is to be a mother to an unwanted child or face the reality that you will never have kids, I think many would pause to contemplate that question just as Samantha had to.

All in all, don't judge unwed mothers and definitely don't judge a woman for wanting to have an abortion. I highly recommend this book in a sex education class or even a parent teaching their kids about sex.

[Grace Boxell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate these ladies telling their stories and understanding their processing of how they came to choose abortion, adoption, or raising their child. I agree with another reviewer that the doodles in the book are completely unnecessary and seem even inappropriate at times to what the lady is sharing.

[Ashleigh Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great set of stories that tells a variety of tales of young women finding out they are pregnant. In an era where a woman's right is being taken away, these stories will open your eyes to what is truly going on in the lives of teenage girls and why they make the choices they do.

[Ermira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very sad. These real-life stories really made me think. Everyone automatically assumes that the girl was stupid and didn't know how to protect herself during sex, when they see a teen mother, but that is not always the case! Things happen in life. I think everyone should read this. It gets you thinking.

[Jennifer Acevedo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about diferent kind of story's based on teenage girls who are pregnant or had an abortion or either had to give it up on adoption. They tell the story of what they had to go through and what is it like now that they have the baby.

[Margarita]

i thought the book was really interesting and it had a lot of feelings about how teen girls would handle pregnancy. i would recommend this book for teenage girls that plan on doing bad choices so they could think twice about what they are about to do.

[Amycheng741 · Rating 4 out of 5]

It tells what happen or what they do after the girls gets pregnant.It tell how their parents think or what they do to help or the the girl.

[BCPL Youth Services Librarian]

Click to see book in BCPL's online catalog

[Erin Lane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good informational book, every teenage girl should read.

[Sherri]

Interesting. Sad. If kids only knew the consequences.