DEPUTY First Minister Michelle O'Neill has described how becoming a mother at 16, she was "still a child" herself.
The Sinn Féin vice president spoke about the "amazing journey" of parenting but also the challenges she faced after giving birth to her first child when she was still at school.
"Being a parent is daunting, no matter what age you are, but particularly when you're 16," she said.
In an interview with The Irish Times, Ms O'Neill - who is mother to Saoirse (27) and Ryan (22) - described how she was supported by her family, with her mother giving up work to ensure she could continue her education.
However, she also faced "some very, very negative experiences when I was pregnant".
"You are still a child yourself really when you look back," she said.
"I have to say my family were very supportive. Everybody around me was very supportive. I was very lucky. Not everybody has that.
"Quite often people are left isolated and don’t have that kind of network of support."
The Mid Ulster MLA, who was brought up in Clonoe, Co Tyrone, said that "while I didn’t set out for that to be my journey, that was my journey".
"I think having Saoirse young, I never regret anything," she said.
"We were very close, but it also gave me an incentive to work hard because I wanted good things for her.
"And, at that time, like you’re talking 1993, society still, compared with today, was a very different place.
"You were nearly put in a box - single mother, unmarried mother, nearly written off. But I was determined that I wasn’t going to be written off, that I was going to work hard and make a good life for her."
She said around the same age that she became a mother, she became involved in activism.
"I started to become active around 16, 17 and my children grew up with that and they didn’t actually notice any difference," she said.
"I would have had them on rallies. I would have had them at all sorts of events.
"They’ve just always known that’s the kind of person I am, somebody who was always out there working in the community, wanting to help people."
She believes being a mother has helped in her political role.
"In any given day I’m trying to be a mummy, a daughter, a constituency representative, and be in the Northern Assembly.
"Women just by nature have to manage so many competing interests but I think that does actually bring a different style of leadership into what you do.
"I think you bring all that with you, the multi-tasking, trying to keep five fires going at the one time."
