When my parents first found out I was pregnant, it was my little sister. I went for my scan to see how far I was and I took the photo on my phone and I kept the lock on. My sister used to watch over my shoulder and she would unlock it. She saw the photo and she showed my mum. My mum went through my bag and found my pills, my iodine, my folic acid pills and my iron tablets. She called me to the table and she asked me, ‘What are those for?’ And then I told her I’m pregnant, and then slam goes the table. Tears running down her face.

She called my dad in. I showed my dad, and my dad looked at them and said, ‘What is this?’ ‘They’re my pills’. And he said, ‘Well’. He thought they were contraception pills. ‘Thank you for telling us that you’re having it now’. And I told my dad, ‘No, they’re not contraception pills. I’m pregnant’. And he goes, ‘What?’ And I said ‘I’m pregnant’. And he turned around and he went down in the shed. I didn’t see him until two days later.

Third day, they came over to Tawhiri’s place. Tawhiri hadn’t told his mum yet, but he had told his nan. My parents came storming through. They were really angry. They told his mum. She wasn’t too happy. And then guns went flying. And then Tawhiri was supposed to move to Australia with his dad. Which kind of rarked me a bit, because why send your son away from his responsibility? They didn’t get it then, but it was only out of anger. And then heaps of other things came out that shouldn’t have been said, but they were. It was quite a long night.

Tawhiri’s nan and poppa came. His nan sat down. She told me I had to make a decision and my mum and dad make the last choice. I either keep it and she’ll look after the baby or I abort it. And my mum wanted the abortion. My dad, he didn’t believe in that. So he had the last say. I could keep my baby and I thanked him. But once I got my way, he then drifted. He didn’t want to talk.

Like all parents, because we’re young they see a dream, they see a future, and then bang, they have a moko. Their babies are now going to be parents. It was a lot for them to take in. Took them a long while to come around.