Nicklaya Frame, 18, and her daughter Aaliyah Helms, almost 2. Photo / Ruth Keber
Nicklaya Frame was 16 when she gave birth.
Miss Frame, now 18, is defying teen pregnancy stereotypes by finishing high school, working through her ordeal and now raising a bubbly toddler, Aaliyah.
She shared her story after the Bay of Plenty Times featured an article about young girls falling pregnant.
Miss Frame was in Year 11 at Otumoetai College when she fell pregnant.
She had been with her then-boyfriend for about six months but decided to come off the pill as she was getting constant nose bleeds and other side effects.
"I came off it and I was going to get the jab but when I went to get the jab I was already pregnant."
Telling her parents she was pregnant was one of the scariest things she had to do, she said.
"My mum told me to spill the beans and she is a really nervous person and laughs all the time so when I told her she just laughed at me, I was so scared, I cried I was so scared."
Although Miss Frame's parents were disappointed, both now love and adore Aaliyah.
Miss Frame said she thought about termination at the beginning of her pregnancy but made the best decision for herself at the time.
"For me, I don't want to judge anybody who has done it because it is quite a hard decision to make.
"But I just knew I wouldn't cope with it well, knowing I had done that to my own kid. It was my own fault I got pregnant and I am doing perfectly fine now. I did think about it for a while but in the end it wasn't an option for me. It was either adoption or keeping her myself. My own mum and family were really supportive."
When rumours around her high school started to spread about her pregnancy she left, waited for the next term and started school again at Te Whakatipuranga School for Young Parents, run by Otumoetai College but held at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic.
Aaliyah, was born on November 1, 2012.
"It was a really cool experience when I had her, giving birth. It was really exciting, painful but exciting.
"I remember being really tired afterwards but she had so much hair and black hair... I just stayed up the night looking at her."
Twelve weeks later, Miss Frame was back in school and eventually picked up her job at New World again.
Miss Frame said many young girls do drop out of the programme but it had inspired her to achieve.
"They have a book of all the mums and what they have done. Some have gone on to do some really cool things like to be police officers and nurses."
Miss Frame said she was no longer in a relationship with Aaliyah's father who now lives in Auckland.
His parents were very present in Aaliyah's life and have helped with raising her.
Weeks away from completing her equivalent to NCEA Level 3, Miss Frame said she was hoping to move out of her parents' house at the end of this year and live with a friend who is also a young mum. She wants to study early childhood education at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic next year.
Miss Frame said teen parents did not have to accept the stereotypes about them.
"We are not as bad as we are made out to be. I've been sworn at and called names but I've finished school on time, I did everything a normal teenager has done. I've worked but I just also had a little kid to look after."
Aaliyah was the most important thing to her in her life now, she said
"I wouldn't change it for a second, even though she is naughty and cheeky sometimes, my life hasn't changed much. I can still go to school and still go to work. I've got really good support around me, so no I wouldn't change it. Sometimes, I wish I was a wee bit older but then it would not have been Aaliyah that I had.
"I have grown up a lot, but I think that is normal when you have a kid, you just have to. It was so exciting when I went for my first scan, actually seeing a little person on the screen. I knew it was real but I thought, wow, it actually is real. She was so little.
"It took me a while to get used having a child but I just enjoy Aaliyah, the little things she does and being able to watch her grow and learning new things.
"When she learnt how to smile it was so exciting. She couldn't do anything at first, but then she started smiling, then rolling and then stuck her little head up. I was so excited.
"I think that is the best thing about being a parent- raising her and being able to watch her grow."
Te Whakatipuranga
• Established in 2002, on a site at the BOP Polytechnic in Tauranga. The school is governed by Otumoetai College but maintains a close relationship with the Polytechnic. Students at Te Whakatipuranga can use all of the polytechnic's facilities including gym, swimming pool, cafes, learning centre; as well as having easy access to polytechnic courses.
• Students have participated in automobile, barista, sport, team building, beauty, bar tending and business administration courses at the polytechnic. The polytechnic early childhood centre is the main provider of childcare for the school, however students also have access to a kohanga on-site.