This interdisciplinary study examines the life worlds of eight young Appalachian mothers, ranging in age from 25 to 30 at the time of the study, each of whom gave birth to her first child before she was 18. They were unwed and not cohabiting with the baby's father at the time of their pregnancy, and they self identified as white. Participants self selected to participate. The researcher chose to use semi-structured interview questions for this qualitative research study in order to allow young Appalachian mothers to tell their stories and shed light on previous research findings about the circumstances of adolescent motherhood. The perceptions and emotions that the women themselves feel and experience have been missing from existing quantitative data. In this study, young women addressed the question of how the major life experience of child bearing affected their lives. The research questions focused on the following: social connectedness, life chances, the mother-child relationship, and the influences that might result from being in a rural Appalachian community. These themes emerged from the in-depth interviews: 1. The complex interactions of parent/kin gender roles and how these patterns emerged as support systems 2. Pregnancy as a maturing experience, including raised expectations of themselves for education and careers 3. Perceptions of the event then and now 4. Positive relationships with their babies and children 5. A need for comprehensive reproductive health education.

This research (a) adds an additional dimension to a body of research exploring a group in society, young unmarried mothers, who have often been left unheard; (b) focuses on Appalachians sharing their experiences when, in the past, others have defined them; (c) raises questions about gender roles in relation to social support systems, and (d) creates questions about the importance of researchers finding ways to allow other voices to be heard.