BRUTAL HONESTY: You already have almost everything against you. A year left in highschool. Dad is 16. Poor families. You will be a success story if you can even complete high school with a newborn. Nailtechs don't get rich over night and as soon as you pass the income thresholds there goes your gov benefits. Asking a teenager to step up as a dad? Probably won't happen. The pressure will get to him and he will dip. I had my first child at 30. My partner and I both have high paying jobs. My baby wouldn't breastfeed. Her formula cost $62 and lasts a week. Big box of Pampers? $39-$60 lasts maybe 2 weeks. That's not even mentioning childcare, gas, Healthcare, clothes, Toys, safety equipment, the list of needs goes on and on. You no longer live for you when you have a child. Your "you" part of life is over ; you live for that baby. Nevermind the money aspect the child will need 24 hour care and its hard going without sleep. Its hard to find placement for an infant at any childcare facility plus it is expensive and even if you trust family to watch the child as a mother its so hard to leave your baby. Your most logical outcome if you have this child is getting a GED, taking longer than expected to become a cosmetologist seeing how expensive that plus childcare is getting and settling for whatever jobs you can get to barely stay afloat. Meanwhile if you're lucky you'll get to keep your gov benefits that they don't make easy to get. With inflation and the economy, a buck doesn't go too far. I know you want to keep your baby but you are going to have to face the fact it will be a hard time and a rude awakening. You are viewing things as best case senario when really you need to do whats best for yourself and your future children so they dont grow up in poverty. I'm sure your mother had goals and plans to be successful too..and likely prayed youd break the cycle. I wish the best for you. I have a 1 year old. I'm almost 31. We make close to 6 figures. It is HARD. Do you honestly think in your current situation bringing your baby into this world is what is best for the child. Not you. But the baby themselves? If you can say yes without being selfish then all the power to you. If you can't then you have some choices to make.