The document is a personal story from Rafaela Frausto about becoming a teenage mother and her subsequent work with Planned Parenthood. As a teenager, she became pregnant after high school graduation but was afraid to tell her mother. Years later, while working at Planned Parenthood, she finds it difficult to discuss sex with her now 15-year-old son, similar to how her own mother struggled to have that conversation with her. Attending a Planned Parenthood parenting workshop helped her realize the importance of having an open and lifelong dialogue about sexuality with children to build trust.

1. La Prensa San Diego
Rafaela Frausto
Planned Parenthood: Working to
Empower Parents
June 7, 2013
Stories
By Rafaela Frausto
My mom said to us,“If you got pregnant,your butt would be to work.”
I was in the 6th grade at the time,watching an Oprah episode aboutpregnantteens with mymom and two sisters.In
what one mightcall a “teachable moment,” instead ofcontinuing the conversation,mymom was onlyadamantthat I
go to work to supportmyselfif I ever became a teenage mom.
When I was 18 I became pregnant.It was the August after my high school graduation.
As you mighthave guessed,I couldn’ttell my mom.I decided to take a three-month trip to visit family in Baja instead.
It wasn’tuntil December when myboyfriend pressured me to tell her that I finally did.

2. She was mostupsetshe would become a grandmother atthe young age of 41.
When my son Ramiro was three months old,Itook a three-month intensive job training program five days a week,
eighthours a day, during which I was also working in telemarketing atnight.During these months,Isaw my baby for
about15 minutes a day while driving between school,work and my mother-in-law’s house.
I eventually landed a position at a Planned Parenthood health center,and then moved on to the public affairs
departmentwhere I have been working for over a decade.
Attending a recent Planned Parenthood presentation on “How to Talk to Your Teen about Sex,” I realize that though I
had heard much of the information before,I still have a tough time talking to Ramiro (now 15) aboutsex. My mother’s
cultural and family background made itdifficult for her to talk to me about it, and now I was suffering from the same
block.
How am I to respond when he expresses curiosityaboutgirls? How could I not be shocked by my own son’s
emerging sexuality?
How do I let him know he can talk to me aboutsex?
It helps to discuss these difficultquestions with others with similar challenges.Programs like the Planned Parenthood
parenting workshops allow parents to talk and exchange ideas;other parents may have tried approaches Ihaven’t,
and vice versa.
Though “the talk” should in fact be a lifelong conversation with your children,it is never too late to learn ways to build
trust between parentand child. By volunteering in my two sons’ activities,Ihope to stay involved in all aspects oftheir
lives, and hope they know they can come talk to me about anything, including sex.