PHOTOS BIO Meet 16 and Pregnant’s Izabella Tovar

On this week’s episode of 16 and Pregnant the MTV cameras take us to Utah to meet 16-year-old Izabella Tovar, her son Enrique Jairo and her baby’s father Jairo Rodriguez. As we try to do every week with the 16 and Pregnant gals, we’ve put together a little pre-show primer with photos and background info to help you get familiar with Izabella prior to the premiere of her episode at 10/9c tonight on MTV.

A resident of Utah all her life, Izabella was born to a Mexican father and 1/2 Danish, 1/2 Caucasian mother with similarly bright blue eyes. Izabella found out she was pregnant when she was just fifteen, making her one of the youngest girls to ever appear on the reality series. The exact date she found out was January 23, 2010 – Izabella was a sophomore at the time.

^ Izabella Tovar attends prom with Jairo in 2010 (18 weeks pregnant!)

Though many associate Utah with the Mormon faith, Izabella is Catholic and attends the private Juan Diego Catholic High School in Draper, Utah. Needless to say, she was worried what her friends and teachers would say if they found out she was expecting so she attempted to hide her pregnancy, which she was successful at until she was seven months along! She talked about her successful stealthiness on Facebook:

Hi! Just so everyone knows, I was very lucky to not show at all until I was about seven months pregnant 🙂 Also, you can look through pictures I have posted in my photos that say how far along I am, and see that you can’t tell that I was pregnant. People at my school did not know that I was pregnant at all during the school year. So, if they say they did, it’s just because they are mad at themselves for not figuring it out! 🙂 I also made it a point to not touch my belly at all until I was very far along because I was hiding it from everyone and I didn’t want them …to find out! I also did not wear baggy clothing. In fact, I was on my school’s drill team while I was pregnant, and they didn’t know. I even competed while pregnant, and wore our tight costumes. Then, I tried out for the team again when I was four and a half months pregnant, and I made the team 🙂 (They still didn’t know that I was pregnant!)

Here’s a photo of Izabella after making the drill team at 4 1/2 months – she is the girl in black kneeling with green tiger stripe shorts:

But, you can’t keep a pregnancy secret forever! In this preview clip of her episode Izabella reveals her secret to her best friend Cassidy:

Eventually her friends and school administrators did find out and Izabella was surprised by the support she received from her school. Their Catholic affiliation meant they were pro-life and they wanted to support Izabella’s decision to keep the baby and were accommodating in doing what they could to keep her in school and make her feel comfortable.

Little Enrique Jairo (pronounced Hi-row) was born in September and weighed 6lbs. 12 oz. He was named after Izabella’s grandmother’s brother Enrique and obviously his father, Jairo.

Speaking of Enrique’s dad Jairo, I suppose I should provide a little 411 on him as well! Jairo is and of Mexican descent and is fluent in Spanish. He and Izabella met at the dinner during their school’s Homecoming Dance dinner. They’ve been together now for two years, which is also the difference in their age. (Jairo is currently 18.) Jairo works in a Walgreen’s photo lab and is a big admirer of luxury cars. Those two things don’t seem to be compatible, but judging from photos on Facebook he’s got a pretty sweet ride! And here it is, if you can see past his Ferrari fiancée:

So what’s in store for Izabella and Jairo in the future? For starters the couple is engaged, although Izabella says on her Formspring account that she doesn’t plan on marrying until she gets out of college, which can be a pretty long time off when you’re just 16! Speaking of college, Izabella has finished up her sophomore year and plans to continue her college prep studies as a junior at Juan Diego Catholic High School in the fall. She hopes to become a psychiatrist and seems to have a clear understanding of the amount of work and time it will take to achieve that goal.

Izabella seems like a really smart and practical girl with the maturity and drive to be a really great mother. Plus, she seems to have a healthy relationship with Jairo, who appears willing to step up and accept the responsibilities associated with being a father. Also, in addition to her school wanting to help Izabella, she is also getting a lot of support from her parents at home, so I think there are lots of reasons to be optimistic that little Enrique will have a stable and happy home!

Some additional info that I wasn’t able to work into the article for whatever reason:

• Izabella is still breastfeeding after eight months, a real rarity for 16 and Pregnant.

• Izabella received a BMW 318ti for her birthday – another rarity for 16 and Pregnant!

• Jairo and Izabella’s dad talk to Enrique often in Spanish so he will more than likely be bilingual. (Izabella doesn’t speak Spanish fluently, but she understands it.)

• She had never seen or heard of the show, but found the MTV website when search for 16 & Pregnant support groups.

• Izabella says that MTV makes Jairo “look much worse than he really is. You shouldn’t always believe everything you see on TV.”

• Izabella says a lot of her friends don’t talk to her anymore, but in stark contrast, she had a number of people she didn’t even know show up at her baby shower because they heard MTV would be filming it!

You can keep up with Izabella, Jairo and little Enrique through these links:

Izabella Tovar official Facebook fan page – www.facebook.com/pages/Izabella-Tovar-From-16-Pregnant-Official-Fan-Page/198229890197187

Jairo Rodriguez official Facebook fan page – www.facebook.com/pages/Jairo-Rodriguez-Fan-Page/219159778112057

Izabella Tovar on Formspring – www.formspring.me/IzabellaMTV

And if you want to help Enrique get a $50 gift certificate from Target, go vote for Jairo and Izabella in this cutest couple contest! Here’s their photo entry – all you have to do is click “Like” to vote!