VIDEOS Dr. Oz behind the scenes with Teen Moms Leah, Kailyn and Maci

Teen moms Leah Messer, Kailyn Lowry and Maci Bookout appear on an episode of The Dr. Oz Show this week to talk about teen pregnancy in honor of National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy tomorrow. In addition to what they talked about on the show the girls also took the time to film some behind-the-scenes videos in which they discuss the hardest parts about being a teenage mother what they want viewers to take away from watching Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2.

Leah Messer talks at length about the emotional struggles of having a child with medical issues, especially when that child is a twin and trying to prevent one daughter from feeling as though she’s being treated any different than her sister:

Kailyn talks about how exhausting being a teen parent can be and she hopes that is what viewers learn from watching the show. She also wants to remind young women that getting pregnant doesn’t mean the baby’s father is going to be around forever. (A hard lesson any viewer of the show would have to have learned by now – I hope!)

Maci also talks about the impact being a teen mom had on her life and that she hopes that teens watching the show will realize being a young parent is not glamorous and probably not something they want to do.

I haven’t seen the The Dr. Oz Show episode yet but I hope the girls were able to defend their shows well. All the critics of Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2 (as well as 16 and Pregnant) that claim the shows glamorize teen pregnancy obviously have not watched the show. Their reactions must be of the same mindset that used to justify sending young pregnant girls away to have their babies – as if pretending it didn’t happen and not talking about it does anything positive for other kids at risk of making the same mistakes! Grrrrrr… Don’t get me started.

Photo: Sony Pictures TV / Splash News