MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — When Shannon Hust became pregnant at age 16, more than one person told her she would never finish high school.

So she set out to prove them wrong.

It took one extra semester, but the now 38-year-old graduated and can look at her now 20-year-old son and know that what she sacrificed in her teenage years was worth the struggles.

But she doesn't recommend it.

"It was not a piece of cake," Hust, of Prattville, said. "I didn't know the first thing about raising a kid. I was not prepared. I knew nothing.

"Believe it or not, someone I was friends with in high school already ha...