Hiding the fact

While pregnancy for most women is a special time when they feel cherished and pampered, Pauline felt mostly anxiety.

Thankfully, says the thin teenager, her belly wasn't very big. "I bought a set of school uniform one size bigger than my original. The school totally did not know."

She would resist the urge to buy children's clothes and baby things when she and her boyfriend walked the malls.

"If we had bought anything, I would have had a lot of explaining to do when I got home," she says.

"I went for PE classes as usual, even running the 2.4km segment of the National Physical Fitness Award test when I was three or four months pregnant.

If I didn't attend the lessons without a valid reason, they would surely probe and eventually discover my pregnancy," she explains.

Once she passed the fitness test, she was left pretty much alone.

There was none of the cooing at prenatal pictures. She only went for one check-up when she was five months pregnant, because her belly was so tiny, she says.