'You would never do this for money': The teenage mother
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Today, she and her six-month-old boy share a north London hostel with seven other teenage girls and their children. She and her 18-year-old boyfriend parted company when she was pregnant but he occasionally sees his son.
Donna says her single-parent mother was annoyed about her pregnancy but has now accepted it.
'When I was pregnant, my mum and I just didn't get along. So I got a social worker and asked to go into care. I was with a foster family and then I came here. It isn't that uncommon to have a baby at my age around here. One girl at school was 14. I don't regret it. My baby is brilliant and I am happy but I don't trust boys now. They don't do anything for you.'
She is starting a catering course at college, during which social services will pay for child care.
Her housemate Catherine, 17, who has a three-month-old daughter, dismisses as 'a lot of bull' ministers' suggestions that girls get pregnant to secure their own homes.
'This is a full-time job. I was much better off when I was studying and living at home. Now my baby and I live on pounds 73 a week. It's really hard. The baby's father tries to help but he is on the social himself and can't get a job. I got pregnant by mistake. You would never do this for money.'
The names have been changed.
(Photograph omitted)
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