high school

Editor's Note: Maribel Cruz was 16, with a perfect boyfriend, looking forward to future as a fashion designer. The school's abstinence program told her condoms didn't work, unfortunately neither did abstinence. Now she's facing life at college with a 3-year-old—not impossible but even more hard work than you can possibly imagine.

As a sex-educator with Planned Parenthood's teenREACH program, Maribel wants parents to give their daughters the information they need to protect themselves and their futures. Here's her story: