KAILEY and Nathan had known each other for a few years but when they found out she was pregnant at just 16, they’d only been dating a short time. Kailey took a test as a joke with a friend; she was on birth control and had zero symptoms so when the result came back positive Kailey took another two because she couldn’t believe it. For Kailey, who at that point was living in Alabama, abortion wasn’t an option. It was over a week after finding out before Kailey had the courage to tell Nathan but he was excited and simply said ‘ok well let’s do this’. They only told one other friend at school, keeping it secret until Kailey left school at six months pregnant to continue with online school. Living in a small town where teen moms tended to just go into hiding once their pregnancies were public knowledge, Kailey and Nathan were determined to change the narrative. Avery was born in March 2020, just as the world was going into lockdown. That meant that not only did Kailey and Nathan have to deal with being parents at a very young age but they also didn’t get the usual support groups or family visits that would have happened outside of lockdown. It was 3-4 months before Kailey’s dad got to meet his grandchild. This challenging start has prepared the young couple well, who are entirely self-sufficient. They got engaged when Kailey was just 17, Nathan, 19 with Nathan proposing on the beach. They are now married and live in Omaha, Nebraska for Nathan’s job, while Kailey continues her studies and looks after Avery. Kailey started her YouTube channel and Instagram to be a safe space for other teen moms. She says: “I wanted to not condone it, not encourage teen pregnancy but show the real side.”