In July 2015, Melbourne student Mollie Syrigos and boyfriend Oscar Wilks fell pregnant.
Nine months later when baby Theodore came into the world, Mollie and Oscar became two of Australia’s youngest parents at just 14 and 15 years old respectively.
Now, as the couple clock 14 months of parenting under their belt and with Mollie now 15 and Oscar 16, they’ve announced another little one is on the way.
“I know it will be a huge challenge but I’m prepared for that challenge. When you love something so much challenges sort of make you stronger and I’m ready for the challenges and very excited for the new baby to come,” she told Nine.com.au.
It hasn’t been an easy couple of years for the students. From the moment their first pregnancy was announced, they have had to battle a wealth of judgement, pre-conceived ideas about what it takes to be a parent and generalisations about teen parents. But for all the “dirty looks”, it’s “worth the judgement”, Mollie says.
From the moment the couple told family and friends of the impending arrival of Theodore, Mollie told Channel 9 she was pressured almost immediately to re-think her steadfast desire to have the baby.
“For a couple of months I didn’t have much support. Everyone was trying to persuade me to get an abortion which wasn’t too fun, it was very difficult actually.