The growing body of research on teenage motherhood in foster care has largely focused on the risks involved for both mother and child, yet these mothers depict a much more complex picture of their own experience of becoming and being mothers. The current study employed interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore 18 in-depth, qualitative interviews from six participants on the meaning and experience of motherhood among teenage mothers in the United States in foster care in years immediately after ageing out. This study focused on a particular dimension of motherhood: participants' efforts to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect with their own children. Two themes emerged as characteristic of these experiences. The first theme was treating children well and parenting differently to avoid the system. The young mothers connected their own experiences of abuse and neglect as a child directly to choices about parenting, including discipline. Many of the young mothers frequently mentioned a fear of their own children being removed as having an influence on their actions. The second theme was reducing isolation and enhancing support. Many of the participants emphasized the importance of teen mothers reaching out for support to deal with the stress of being a young mother. However, many of the participants noted the stigma often associated with getting therapy that acted as a barrier to them receiving counseling.
The study has several policy and practice implications, including providing teen mothers in foster care with the support to know how to parent differently. Discussions about substance abuse may also be important, including exploring what happened when teens’ own family members abused substances. Lastly, young mothers in foster care should be offered proper mental health services.