Bristol Palin, the daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, announced that she is pregnant with her second child and strongly expressed that she is not interested in lectures. Aside from being a reality TV star, she is also best known for advocacy against teen pregnancy and abortion.
Palin first shared the news in a blog post on Patheos on Thursday. Although she indicated that this development would be "a huge disappointment to my family," she requested privacy from the public for herself and her son, Tripp.
"Please respect Tripp's and my privacy during this time," Palin wrote. "I do not want any lectures and I do not want any sympathy. My little family always has, and always will come first."
Palin attempted to put on a brave face in her announcement, realizing that her latest pregnancy could make her the target of scathing criticism. She admitted that she was "trying my hardest to keep my chin up on this one."
"At the end of the day there's nothing I can't do with God by my side, and I know I am fully capable of handling anything that is put in front of me with dignity and grace," Palin wrote. "Life moves on no matter what."
Palin added that she made the announcement "due to the constant trolls who have nothing better to talk about."
According to Maria Puente of USA Today, 24-year-old Palin became a TV personality through her family's reality TV show and became a contestant on Dancing With the Stars. She was due to marry former U.S. Marine and Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer on May 23.
"A week before the wedding, her mother announced that it was off. No explanation was given," Puente wrote.
Puente reported that Palin and her politically famous mother spoke out in defense of the Duggar family, who has been accused of covering up a child molestation scandal. They attacked HBO star Lena Dunham of Girls for supposedly doing the same thing.
"Bristol later became an 'ambassador for abstinence,'" Puente wrote.
In a Fox News interview dating back to 2009, Palin told Greta Van Susteren that "everyone should just wait 10 years" instead of becoming pregnant during teenage years. She was 18 years old at the time.
"You're up all night, and it's not glamorous at all," Palin said back then. "Your whole priorities change after having a baby."
Palin added that pregnancy is "so much easier if you're married and if you have a house and a career."
Palin didn't want to get into any details about the issue of contraception, but she contended that abstinence was "not realistic at all." Even though "it's more and more accepted now," she stood by her beliefs on abstinence.
"You should just wait 10 years and it'd just be so much easier," Palin said.
