I was a teen mom. Now I'm 44, my 2 kids are adults, and I have my life back.

• Casey Kelleher gave birth to her first son when she was 17 and her second son when she was 20.
• She received endless support from her family network as she raised her children.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Casey Kelleher. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Sat in the bathroom of my parent's house, I stared at the positive pregnancy test. I was 17.

Days later, the doctor confirmed what I knew to be true. I would be having a baby. All at once, I felt a rush of happiness. My partner and I had talked about having children someday, so even though it was an early surprise, it was welcomed. We worked out that I was already three months pregnant.

Although happy, I did go into shock. My ears started ringing, and everything felt very surreal. I felt blindsided; I started to try to work out how this was going to work. It felt overwhelming. I knew I would need to tell my parents and was fearful about how they would react because I had only just left school. But from the minute I told them, they were incredibly supportive.

I went into labor early

When I was six months pregnant, I started having contractions. Over the phone, the doctor told me I was just having false labor pains, that it was very normal at this stage of the pregnancy, and not to worry.

But the contractions just kept going through the night, growing in their severity. When I went to the hospital, they told me I was in full-blown labor.

At the time, being so young meant that I was oblivious to the health risks and long-term effects my son could have, born so prematurely. Although the doctors and nurses gave my son outstanding care for the three months that he was in the hospital, I remember sometimes feeling talked down to or even dismissed as a young mother.

Once Ben was released from the hospital, I stayed with my parents for a few days for extra support. Ben needed a lot of extra assistance. He was on a lot of medication and needed to be on oxygen at night, as well as needing an oxygen canister nearby during the daytime.

I had another baby when I was 20

Three years later, when I was 20, my second son Danny was born.

The six months after Danny was born were some of the most difficult times I have experienced. I was working part-time as well as doing a course at college, being a mother, and managing a relationship with my partner that had unfortunately become very toxic. I felt as if all the time, energy, and attention that I should be giving to my children was being compromised by the unhealthy relationship that I had found myself in, and for the sake and well-being of my boys, I knew I had to end the relationship with their father.

Immediately, it felt like a weight had been lifted. Our house was happier and lighter.

For two years, I raised my boys alone, with huge help from my parents and siblings. Without them, I would have been lost.

There were times I felt lonely during those early years of motherhood. Most of my friends were out clubbing and going on vacations. But instead of sitting in envy, I focused on bettering myself, my life, my house, and my family.

I always felt like I had a lot to prove

Being such a young mother often left me open for judgment and some people gave me the impression that they thought I had ruined my life by having children so early. Because of that, I always felt like I had a lot to prove.

It took me a long time to learn that my sons were the only people I ever had to prove myself to.

I met Danny, my husband, when the boys were 5 and 2 and we have now been together for over 21 years, raising my boys together along with Danny's son.

Through their teenage years, my boys were miraculously very easy. There were never any huge dramas. We had a routine that worked well for everyone. My boys were always very independent, which also gave me space to be independent.

When my friends were having babies, mine were leaving my house

The only negative aspect of having had my kids so young was that they left home when I was in my late 30s. When a lot of my friends were just starting to have babies, I was saying goodbye to mine. I had gone from being a child to a mother overnight, and in doing so, I had become very attached to my boys. So, it hit me hard when they left.

They call and text me on the phone every single day, and often come home for visits with their girlfriends. I love watching them go into the world and doing their own thing.

People often ask me if I now "have my life back" since the boys have moved out. But I've always had a degree of independence and freedom, even when my children were around. If anything, they have always pushed me forward, not kept me still.

Raising children as a young mother hasn't always been easy. In the thick of it — when one of the kids is ill, and you haven't slept but still have to get up for work in the morning, as the bills need to be paid — life feels very overwhelming. But looking back, they were the very best days, and in the blink of an eye, my boys grew up. I'm so proud of the men they have become.

I would do it all over again if given another chance and wouldn't change a thing.