AJ Raval reflects on struggles of being a mom at 17: 'Life felt too heavy for both of us'
AJ Raval looked back on her struggles when she became a mom at 17, sharing how hard it was trying to figure out motherhood.
In her social media post, the 25-year-old actress marked the eighth birthday of her eldest, Ariana, by recalling her early days as a mom.
"There were days I looked at us and thought 'How are we going to make it?' I was 17, scared, broke, and trying to figure out how to be a mom when I still felt like a kid myself. Sometimes it honestly felt like a child raising a child," she began in her caption.
"We argued, we cried, we struggled, and there were moments when life felt too heavy for both of us," she added. We had no money. No stable income. No home of our own."
"Just two girls trying to survive in a world that wasn’t built to make it easy for us," she continued.
Raval went on to share how they lived in a tiny apartment and that she gave birth in a lying-in clinic, saying that while there were moments she wanted to seek help from her parents, she chose not to, so as not to be a burden.
"I didn’t want to feel like I was failing or asking for too much. So I held it all in," she shared. "But we did it. We kept going even when it felt impossible."
She went on about how her firstborn saved her "in big ways."
"Your tiny hands and loud little voice reminded me that I had something worth fighting for. You’re a blessing I never knew I needed, but the greatest one I ever received," she wrote.
"You’re everything I dreamed you’d be and more," she wrote. "When I look at you, I don’t just see my daughter. I see my survival. I see my growth.
"I see the reason I learned how to fight, love, and rebuild my life."
"We made it through the hardest parts, and I promise the rest of your story will be filled with warmth, love, and a home built from everything we’ve survived," she concluded.
In November, Raval revealed that she's a mom of five, three of whom she shares with Aljur Abrenica.
“Gusto ko na pong matapos and gusto ko ng magkaroon ng freedom yung mga kids,” the actress shared as her reason for revealing her kids.
