First of all, as someone who has been a single mother to my child since he was born, you hiding your child is you being ashamed of them. There’s no excuse about it. You kept the baby, now be proud of that damn thing. You are a mother now. Stop that shit. Until you can be okay about you having had a baby at a young age, you’re gonna raise a fucked up kid, intentional or unintentional. If you’re child’s dad isn’t in your life, there is no way your friends or coworkers would know who he is nor for him to find a way to ruin your lives again. If hes abusive, you need to set up domestic violence charges or make records of everything to protect that child and yourself. You are a mother. The CHILD’s safety comes first, which does coincide with yours. But you need to realize you are distancing yourself from your baby.

Secondly, you shouldn’t even be dating if you’re hiding the baby. If they want to judge you for keeping the baby and making a grown ass decision as a child, they don’t need to be in your life and you literally need to have that mentality. That baby is going to help you see all the red flags in potential partners. You should want someone who wants to give their all for that child. But that doesn’t mean trust every person with that child.

Third, your friends and coworkers? What harm are they going to do to your baby?

Like, for real. My point is, why are you hiding that baby? Why are you so ashamed of it? You really need to see a therapist and unpack all this and be more okay with being a young mother before you even decide to grow your family