THE CHILD WITHIN THE CHILD

Some grief begins long before death.

It may begin when childhood is interrupted.

When safety changes.

When a child is required to carry something she was never developmentally ready to carry.

My mother was eleven years old when she became pregnant.

She was twelve when she gave birth to me.

She was a child carrying a child.

I was the child within that child.

The Child Within the Child is a distinct ATTOL initiative that recognizes the child who becomes a mother while she herself is still a child.

Pregnancy does not erase childhood.

Motherhood does not automatically create adulthood.

Two children are present.

The young mother.

And the baby.

See them both.

Care for them both.

The work centers primarily on the youngest mothers, especially ages 11–14, through recognition, dignity, resource navigation, support and connection.

Because childbirth does not end her childhood.

And because what happens to a child can become something she carries for generations.