Michelle Money has come out with a very personal confession.
The former Bachelor contestant and Bachelor in Paradise star revealed in an interview with skincare brand PMD that she got accidentally pregnant as a teenager.
“I’ve been known for being very real and upfront, but there’s a big part of what makes me me that I’ve never shared before,” Money says in the segment, adding:
“When I was 15 years old I got pregnant.”
Money didn’t get into specifics regarding the identity of the father or anything, but she did take us through her thought process at the time.
“You go through all of the options in your head of how to deal with this,” she said, eventually revealing what she chose to do:
“The decision to place this baby for adoption was not an easy one, but it was the right one. The day came, my water broke. It was bittersweet. It was just very bittersweet.
“Just the process of labor and the process of delivering and feeling love that I’ve never felt before. It rocked me.”
We really can’t imagine being in that difficult position.
In video of the interview, Money shares footage of herself soon after she became a mother, with the clip depicting her holding the newborn in her arms while sitting on a hospital bed.
“When the moment came for me to say goodbye and hand him over to the social worker … it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Money said.
Things didn’t get easier for the Utah native, either.
“I was really consumed with trying to prove myself to everyone and caring a lot about what people thought of me. I lost myself in that for a long time really trying to overcompensate from this mistake that I made,” she says.
“It’s taken a lot for me to get here.
“It doesn’t happen overnight where you get to where you can feel so confident in the decisions you’ve made in life and the trials that you’ve gone through.”
Money is best known for competing for the heart of Brad Womack on The Bachelor in 2011.
She has also appeared on Bachelor Pad (2011) and Bachelor in Paradise (2014) and is currently starring on Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars.
“My wish for every woman is for them to be able to look at themselves in the mirror and love every challenge, every trial, every heartache that they’ve experienced in their life and still feel beautiful,” she says, concluding:
“That, to me, is true beauty.”