Roxannie DeJesus, twenty, with her daughter Naisha.
Roxannie So, my name is Roxannie and I’m twenty years old now. My daughter is four. I had her when I was fifteen. Her name is Naisha. Naisha is from El Salvador and Peurto Rico. I’m from Peurto Rico. Her dad is El Salvadorian.
Amanda Did any part of you want to get pregnant?
Roxannie It was a surprise, but I can’t say that we didn’t know that something like that could happen because we weren’t using protection on either side, and we lived in the same house, and we slept in the same bed. So, we weren’t all that surprised. I was just overwhelmed by the news.
Amanda Do you remember when you first held Naisha?
Roxannie When I woke up (from the C-Section) what I saw was Alex changing her diaper and I was like, “Oh that’s my daughter, that’s my baby.” Just immediately you have this bond, like she’s not there no more. I’m not talking to the belly no more or trying to bother her. I used to poke my stomach just for her to hit back or something, and this time I was like touching her and it was nice.
Amanda How were the first few months with Naisha?
Roxannie It just felt natural. The doctors were surprised cause like I was only fifteen, but I didn’t ask the nurses for any help. Like I knew what I was doing it was something natural. That’s how I felt.
Just immediately you have this bond, like she’s not there no more. I’m not talking to the belly no more or trying to bother her. I used to poke my stomach just for her to hit back or something, and this time I was like touching her and it was nice.
Amanda What is your relationship with Alex like now?
Roxannie I can’t say it’s a good relationship because really it’s not. Before, Alex used to hang out with Naisha because I was always pushing it like, “Hey, you gonna come pick up Naisha? Hey do you want to have her in the afternoon?” and I would go drop her off. I stopped doing that about like a year ago, because I wasn’t feeling me being after him all the time.
I don’t have anything against him you know. I treat him with respect. It’s not a “Hi, how are you doing?” It’s just a simple “Hi. Ok, you’re taking her. Ok, what time are you going to bring her back? She needs to eat. Make sure that she’s covered.” Like that’s all.
Amanda Do you want to have more children?
Roxannie Eh, well I had her when I was fifteen. I’m only twenty. I’m just about to finish my GED. I like what I’m doing. I want to travel with Naisha. I want to go to Africa and Europe with her. South America, and have this road trip in the States. Now that I’m on my own, I don’t know. Not having that other someone there, the father there for her, it’s a lot harder for me. I don’t think I want to go through this again. I want to adopt orphans. So maybe I’ll just adopt orphans after I turn 25 or after I turn 30, and just you know give my love to other kids instead of having more kids. Who knows.