Becoming a mother at any age is no light undertaking, but for the teenage moms of Unexpected, the realization hit them harder than most. In a PopCulture.com exclusive sneak peek of Sunday’s season finale tell-all, Rilah Ferrer, Tyra Boisseau, Chloe Mendoza, McKayla Adkins and Hailey Tomlinson look back on how their lives have changed since becoming moms at such a young age.
When asked by host Shaun Robinson what the biggest struggle has been since welcoming their babies, Rilah, who became pregnant with daughter Malayah at just 16 with boyfriend Anthony Vanelli, was quick to answer, “Just knowing that you’re responsible for someone. You know like I used to take frickin’ 8-hour naps. I can’t do that no more.”
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Tyra, the 18-year-old mother of daughter Layla, whom she welcomed with boyfriend Alex Wilson, added, “When I thought I was graduating high school, I was like, ‘I can’t wait to graduate so I can sleep in every morning.’ And now it’s like I get up at six o’clock every morning with her, and I’m like, ‘Oh.’”
Chimed in Hailey, who gave birth to daughter Kinsley at 16, just days before boyfriend Matthew Blevins left her for her friend, “Yeah, I thought it was gonna be easy, and it’s just not.”
For some of the more seasoned moms, like 18-year-old Chloe Mendoza, who shares 1-year-old daughter Ava with ex Max Schenzel, seeing the younger moms go through the early days was a blast from the past.
“I think it got way harder when [Ava] got older,” she reflected. “Now she’s got an attitude. It’s easy ’til they start crying because they know that’s what gets them what they want.”
Things are even more complicated for McKayla, who is mom to both 2-year-old son Timmy and daughter Gracelynn, whom she welcomed in January 2019 with ex Caelan Morrison.
“It’s really hard, because now it’s like, you get one to bed and you’re like, ‘Oh I can finally go to sleep. Nope I have another one I have to put to bed,’” she told Robinson. “And then it’s just like they’re two completely different human beings with two different personalities.”
“So you would definitely not recommend it for someone your age?” Robinson asked, to which McKayla responded, “Ah hell no. Never.”
Unexpected airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
Photo credit: TLC
