Renewal and Risk: The Dual Experience of Young Motherhood and Aging Out of the Child Welfare System

This interpretive study examines how childhood history and the personal experience of being mothered impact the meaning attributed to motherhood among young mothers aging out of the child welfare system.Through the use of an interpretive approach, findings are derived from interviews with 15 females who reported an experience of pregnancy or parenting at the time of the interview. In the midst of the strain and challenge of motherhood, these young women report that motherhood has the potential to provide opportunities relevant to their own identity as well as to healing from their pasts. Findings aim to inform ways of understanding and responding to the unique and dual experience of mothering and aging out of the child welfare system.