Naila is a single mom, living and working in L.A., raising her 12-year-old daughter and is pregnant again.

My father is a red haired Irish man, my mother a Monacan Sioux, dutch black woman. I was raised and continue to be nurtured and blessed by the best parents on the planet.

Marriage in my family is the norm, and I can't think of anyone in my family besides myself who is a single parent. Despite my liberal upbringing in Massachusetts, I have been an active member of the Republican party since I was 21. I worked hard, got through college barely, and have worked my tail off to get to the place where I have a pretty comfortable standard of living. My daughter is a joy, beautiful, kind, intelligent and her dad and I have always joined forces to give her the best we can from two different homes.

It was very difficult coming home the first time unwed and pregnant, more so because I felt I had let my parents down and I didn't want to become a statistic. So even when times were very hard, I worked three jobs, maintained home and joy and believed, even when I couldn't see it, that hard work and determination can get you out of most situations.

I never planned on another child unmarried, but morally abortion was never an option. Financially I am capable, and I feel that part of the problem of our society is the throw away mentality. Don't like what you did, take a pill, ignore it, blame someone else. We will do anything but face our own choices square in the eye. I tell my daughter that while she can survive any situation, God intended for parenting in the best case scenario to be done with two parents and not one.

Daily, however, as I blog on various topics throughout the web about my single pregnancy, people make the assumption that as a woman of color having her second child, I must be headed for, or already on, welfare.

I am the first to denounce lazy people -- black, white, red, green, single, married. There are many, many people of all races and creeds that worked hard day in and day out because that was the right thing to do, and because they had a strong sense of integrity. However I know especially in this day and age, people hit hard times, and as a single parent, those times come five times as fast, because there is only one person to count on.

No person in their right mind would without great and deep thought have a child alone. I pray daily for strength, courage and fortitude to be all that I need to be for my children. And as much as I cry when it comes, I will never feel sorry for myself nor wonder "why me."

I chose my life and I put into place the circumstances. How I react to those always is within my control.

Just as I teach my daughter right and wrong, I teach her that while she should have a strong moral compass, it is not her place to stand in judgment of anyone, that remains on God's shoulders alone.

My parents' love is going into its 41st year. I am thankful that they were able to be steadfast and choose love over comfort, and were able through example, to instill that in us.