Mom goes viral on TikTok for her reaction to teen daughter's positive pregnancy test

Nicole Hennessy is getting plenty of support and plenty of hate as well for her viral TikToks in which she reenacts finding her teenage daughter's pregnancy test and describes the conversations they have when they discover the 17-year-old, Angelina, is in fact pregnant.

In the first video, which has been viewed nearly 15 million times, Nicole lip syncs to a song while retelling the story of finding the wrapper of Angelina's pregnancy test, talking to her about it, realizing it was negative, and purchasing another test, which ended up being positive. Nicole then reenacts going through her daughter's "three choices" when it comes to what to do about the baby.

In a subsequent video, Nicole clarifies that she had full permission from Angelina to share the story. In conversation with Bored Panda, Nicole said, "Angelina is a soul from the '80s, I would say. She is incredibly artistic, she pains and works with ceramic — her talent blows me away. She is a lover of all types of music, an awesome cook, and the type of person whose heart feels for everyone."

She says that when she first saw the pregnancy test wrapper, her first reaction was, "Angelina needs me, so don't react!" She hugged her daughter and told her she would help her figure everything out.

And that's exactly what she did. Nicole and her husband sat down with Angelina to discuss all her options without making a judgment one way or another. "I told her that she has three options: abortion, adoption, or keeping and raising the baby," Nicole said.

"My husband and I sat down with her and talked in length about all three and the pros and cons to each one. He and I agreed in advance that we would not voice our opinion to her because it is her life to choose and we did not want to pressure her to make a choice." That's a remarkably mature and understanding reaction to have to something like teen pregnancy.

Nicole and her husband offered Angelina several perspectives so she could make the most informed decision. She took her to a therapist to talk through her decision-making. "We talked to my reverends at church (who are open-minded and loving) and we also went to the women's center and OB-GYN," Nicole said. "Also, her primary called her to check in."

Angelina took some time to weigh her options, and she seriously considered each one of them. Nicole made a part-two video about the back-and-forth process of Angelina's decision-making.

Angelina eventually realized that deep down, she wanted to keep and raise the baby, so Nicole dove in head-first to help her through the process. "Here we are, seven weeks away from meeting her little boy," Nicole said. "She will stay living at home so she can finish school and college and try to save money. She has our full support. It takes a village."

Nicole has gotten so many messages praising her for being so patient and supportive of her daughter. Nicole says that the key to forming strong bonds with your kid is to recognize that "they are a person with feelings and they need to not feel scared and alone."

She continued, "If I did anything right as a mom, it was creating a space where my kids know they can come to me and my love won't ever go away. Also, because she was given space to make her own choice, she will thrive, she will not feel like a victim of the choice pushed on her. She chose her path on her own and that means she is willing to sacrifice to be successful with that choice."

Nicole believes that everything happens for a reason, that there's a purpose to everything you face. Angelina is due to deliver her baby boy in September, and she will do so with the full support of her loving parents.

This article was originally published on August 3, 2020. It has since been updated.