The Challenges of Parenthood Among Adolescent Mothers in the City of Kinshasa, Drc

This qualitative study examined four cases of adolescent mothers living in different municipalities of the city of Kinshasa. Through interviews complemented by the Family Drawing Test, the results show that motherhood among adolescent girls generally occurs unexpectedly, in a context marked by insufficient sexual education, emotional vulnerability, family difficulties, and economic dependence. The baby is strongly integrated into the maternal family and may even symbolically occupy the position of the youngest child in the sibling group. The terms “mother,” “father,” and “yaya” (older sister) illustrate this redistribution of generational roles. Moreover, although the adolescent mother fulfills the functions associated with biological motherhood, she has not yet reached the level of social and psychological motherhood. Thus, psychologically and socially, the adolescent mother remains a baby—immature—and finds herself in the position of raising another baby.