Problems for Donna Dowman began after her parents split up and her mum could not pay their mortgage. The family had to move several times and Donna ended up having problems at school.

When she was only 13 she struck up a relationship with a 16-year-old boy, fell pregnant and then life suddenly became even more complicated...

My dad ran off with another woman when I was 10 years old, leaving my mum, my sister and me to cope on our own. I was devastated because I had always been daddy's little girl.

Mum couldn't keep up with the mortgage payments on our three-bedroomed house so we moved to cheaper rented accommodation.

She gave up her job as a matron for a Lincoln nursing home to look after me and my elder sister, Kim, who was 13 at the time, and we were forced to live on benefits.

The council moved us into a council house on an estate. I hated the area and found it difficult to make friends at school. I was picked on so badly that I refused to go to lessons and didn't go out of the house for six months.

I was moved to a different school in Lincoln but I had more problems. I had a rare skin complaint and the other children teased me.

At home, our two-bedroomed house was burgled three times. Two weeks later our belongings turned up at a car boot sale. We called the police but they couldn't do anything about it.

We didn't feel safe at night and mum decided to go back to work to find somewhere else to live.

So in 1997, we moved to Leicester. Mum had managed to find a job in a nursing home. It was owned by an Asian family and we had fun trying to learn Urdu.

While we were living in Leicester, I met Matt. He was a friend of my sister's so he was three years older than me. He appeared nice and caring at first. For the first time in ages I was happy again.

But after a few weeks, he became violent and moody and started hitting me. I felt trapped in the relationship because I had no friends. He used to pressure me into having sex with him.

I didn't particularly like it but I remember thinking 'Everyone else is doing it so why don't we?' I was on the pill but I stopped taking it because it was making me feel ill.

A few weeks later I started being sick and my mum immediately realised I was pregnant.

I was in total shock and just didn't know what to do. I phoned Matt and told him I was pregnant.

He threatened to come round and stab me and the baby. I was very afraid because I knew he had a violent streak in him.

My mum was very angry with me at first but has been so supportive that I don't know what I would have done without her.

I was faced with the options of abortion, adoption or keeping the baby. I had to have counselling to help me cope with the situation.

It was only after my 16-week scan showed I was expecting twins, that I decided to go ahead with the pregnancy. I didn't want to go for adoption because the twins might have been separated.

My sister moved back to Lincoln to stay with friends and social services placed me in a foster home with a single mother.

Mum moved in with her new boyfriend, Alan. He was registered disabled and she met him through a lonely hearts column.

I spent my entire pregnancy either in foster care or in hospital due to high blood pressure. While at Leicester Royal Infirmary, I attended the hospital school.

One month before the babies were due, I was rushed into maternity. My mum and sister were really worried.

I had to have an epidural to help me cope with the pain. Rachel weighed 4lb 10oz and Rebecca was 4lb 8oz. They were so tiny they had to spend a week in a ventilator to help them with breathing problems.

After having the twins, I came out of care and moved in with mum and Alan. Matt had found out where I was living so Alan decided we should move to a caravan site in Filey, North Yorkshire, to get away for a while.

There were five of us living in a cramped one-bedroom van, which was only about 12ft by 5ft. It was too crowded and Alan became unbearable to live with.

He would tell me and my mum to get up at 5am to clean the caravan and he couldn't bear it when the babies cried.

One day he threw me down the front steps and told me I was a useless mother. It really hurt me and my mum knew it.

We had to get out before Alan hurt one of the babies. We packed up a few things and escaped to a women's refuge in Leeds. Alan wouldn't be able to find us there but we knew we couldn't stay in a refuge forever.

We got in touch with some old friends from Lincoln who came and visited us. Once they saw the conditions we were living in they helped us move back to a house in Lincoln.

We had a lot of help from the CARE-Rent scheme while we were waiting for the housing benefit to come through.

My mum and I have become Christians and we have received a lot of help and support from the local Emmanuel Christian Centre.

Now I'm trying to put the past behind me and get on with my life. I never told Matt that I had twins and we haven't seen Alan for nearly a year.

I'm studying with a home tutor now and want to try and catch up on my education. I want to write a book to let other girls know that it is possible to get through the worst of circumstances.

However, I wouldn't advise anyone to get pregnant at 13. I don't want anyone else to have to go through what I've been through.

I've lost most of my childhood and I'll never get that back.

The four of us live in a small but comfortable house. We get by on £140 a week and most of that goes on nappies and clothes for the twins.

I can't afford to keep up with fashion or buy new CDs like other teenagers do.

I don't get much sleep and the babies need a lot of attention. But they are my priority and I love them with all my heart.

When they grow up I'm going to make sure they go to school every day so they don't make the same mistakes that I did.

The good news is that my sister is getting married and my mum is hoping to go back to work.

I feel settled for the first time in five years, so maybe things are looking up. I used to be quite good at gymnastics and I would love to do a course in drama to become a dancer or a singer.

Maybe I'll become a star one day.

This story first appeared in the Lincolnshire Echo

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