Young parents Zayda and Cole benefitted from pregnancy help and have continued with their lives while raising their daughter Delia, including graduating from high school recently, demonstrating that an unplanned pregnancy does not have to end one’s dreams.
Zayda is not your typical 18-year-old, and certainly not the norm as a mom of a three-year-old. At age 14 the news of pregnancy was frightening, but thankfully because of pregnancy help she and Cole did not face it alone.
Cole and Zayda graduated in May from Tammany High School in Lewiston, Idaho. The school is somewhat unique in what the couple described as a normal high school experience with the opportunity to have their child in daycare on site.
Zayda began attending Tammany as a freshman and Cole transferred in as a junior two years later. Zayda felt blessed to be able to continue school in a setting where she was accepted as a pregnant teen and did not experience bullying because of her circumstances.
“We got to feel like we weren’t left out,” stated Zayda. “When I got started there, I was big and pregnant and walking around a high school and was scared I would get picked on.”
“I didn’t get made fun of at all,” she said. “They were welcoming to me and to my daughter. My friends cared about me, and it was a lot better than I thought it would be.”
“It’s a smaller school with fewer teachers and fewer students,” Cole said. “It’s a lot more one-on-one and that helps students.”
He was asked to speak at the graduation ceremonies.
“I was very honored to give a speech and shed light on how that school really is,” Cole recounted the event and their experience at Tammany. “While you’re there it feels like high school and a week goes by and it begins to feel like home. The teachers are inspiring and motivating to the students.”
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When Zayda learned she was expecting her daughter Delia her grandmother had helped her find the Reliance Center pregnancy help medical clinic in Lewiston.
From the beginning Zayda found Reliance was far more than a practical resource in navigating pregnancy and being a new mom, and their support helped both her and Cole value their own lives as well as their child’s.
Zayda and Cole recounted earlier to Pregnancy Help News how their decision to reject abortion and co-parent their daughter was solidified by access to a free ultrasound provided at Reliance Center.
Reliance Center, “supplied literally everything we needed,” Cole said. “We had no idea what we were doing, and they guided us through all of it.”
“And now, she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to us,” said Cole. “I mean, 110% I’ve matured and I’m not the same person I was at all.”
“If it weren’t for the Reliance Center, I don’t know where we’d be,” Cole added. “They helped us financially, emotionally, mentally, more than I can say.”
Heather Lawless, founder and CEO of Reliance Center, has witnessed the steady process of the couple advancing from being frightened teens to confident parents.
Zayda and Cole would come to the center whenever they needed someone to talk to or needed some help, Lawless said.
“We’ve had consistent contact with them,” Lawless said. “We’ve talked with them in regard to whatever struggles come along and as there were things they need help with.”
Lawless continues to be available as a resource to Zayda, Delia, and Cole.
Participating in Heartbeat International's Babies go to Congress in 2022 gave Zayda the opportunity to share with Congressional lawmakers how important pregnancy help has been in opening up possibilities for her life.
“Her dream is to rodeo,” Lawless told Pregnancy Help News. “She has found out she can still pursue her dream.”
Today Zayda shares her dream with her daughter. Delia has begun participating in rodeo competitions as a three-year-old.
“It stays pretty busy,” Zayda said of the process of competing herself and then getting Delia and her pony ready for additional events, as well as also helping her own dad prepare for his events.
“It gets kinda crazy and we’re rushed a bit,” she said, “but it’s fun and Delia has a lot of fun doing it.”
“She told me she is going to beat me,” Zayda beamed. “We have her do barrel racing and for little kids they have them do a stake race. At her age I just lead her through it. The goal is to have her ride by herself next year.”
Zayda works at the family ranch, which includes cattle, horses, and goats, along with a storage unit business which she runs. Additionally, she works part time as a waitress.
Cole works at a restaurant and is working toward an apprenticeship as an electrician. He will begin college classes soon at Lewis-Clark State College in its electrical apprenticeship program.
Both of the young parents see Delia every day and they are supported by their parents and grandparents in caring for their child.
“All of our parents really love Delia and are supportive in taking care of her,” Cole noted. “Whenever we need to go to work, they are always open to hanging out with her.”
The couple’s dating relationship continues with plans for a future together. Delia is their priority while much of their life as young adults moves forward in a conventional manner.
They do not have regrets in choosing life. When asked if they would do anything different Zayda is very thoughtful before answering.
“I think we did everything right,” she stated. “We both got jobs when we needed to and worked through high school.”
They both credit their families, being raised on ranches and all the hard work involved, and things like 4-H, with preparing them for the responsibility of working to care for their daughter.
“I had two or three other jobs before we even had Delia,” Cole said. “We are both pretty hard-working people.”
“My father told me to be a man and don’t walk away,” Cole recalled. “I could never imagine myself doing that and now that I’ve had my little girl, I think, ‘look at what you’ve created, it’s far more valuable than your life,’ is the mentality I’ve had.”
Both Cole and Zayda are Christians and find prayer important personally as well as teaching their daughter to pray. They hope to reach other young people through their own story to encourage them to trust God amid challenging circumstances.
Today Cole continues to offer a message for other young men that a child does not end your hopes and dreams but becomes the start of new ones.
“Realize that your potential as a man is far greater than you can imagine presently,” Cole explained. “Just trust the process. There’s always someone upstairs watching after you, and whether you have a daughter or a son, you’re not alone and even if you do find yourself being a lonely parent it is not the end of the world, and you are far greater than you can imagine.”
Zayda has had opportunities to encourage other young moms who have found themselves pregnant and scared to be faced with difficult circumstances.
“They reach out to me,” Zayda said. “One called me, and my granny and I drove her to the Reliance Center. I told her everything’s going to be okay. Look at me, I did it and you are just as capable.”
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages Pregnancy Help News.
