>>> GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE. AND WELCOME.
AND WELCOME.
IM MEGYN KELLY.
WE BEGIN THIS MORNING WITH CHILD BRIDES.N THIS MORNING WITH CHILD
BRIDES.
IT IS HAPPENING RIGHT HERE IN
AMERICA, WITH GIRLS TOO YOUNG TO VOTE OR EVEN TO DRIVE.O YOUNG TO
VOTE OR EVEN TO DRIVE. AND FOR SOME GIRLS, IT IS A
CHOICE THAT THEY HAVE NOT EVEN
FREELY MADE.
24-YEAR-OLD ASHLEY DUNCAN
REMEMBERS THE DAY SHE GOT MARRIED TO HER BOYFRIEND.
SHE WAS JUST 15.
>> I DIDNT KNOW I WAS GETTING
MARRIED THAT DAY.
>> THATS WHY THERE WAS NO
WEDDING PLANS, NO PARTY, NO
WHITE DRESS.
>> I GOT UP AND WENT TO SCHOOL.
I WAS GETTING OFF THE BUS TO GO
HOME.
AND MY AUNT GOT ON THE BUS AND
SAID, COME ON, YOURE GOING TO
GET MARRIED TODAY.
>> Reporter: ASHLEYS AUNT AND
LEGAL GUARDIAN AT THE TIME
BROUGHT ASHLEY AND HER 18-YEAR-OLD BOYFRIEND TO THE
COURTHOUSE.
COURTHOUSE.
>> I REMEMBER WHEN HE WAS READING OUR VOWS, I REALLY
DIDNT KNOW WHAT TO SAY.
THE PART THAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO
SAY, I DO AT, I SAID, I GUESS.
AND MY SISTER WHISPERED, YOURE
SUPPOSED TO SAY I DO.
>> Reporter: TWO WEEKS EARLIER, ASHLEY, THEN A HIGH SCHOOLLIER,
ASHLEY, THEN A HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMAN IN STEELE, MISSOURI,
DISCOVERED SHE WAS PREGNANT.
>> IT GOT HARD.
IM PREGNANT, IM A BRIDE AND A FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL.AND A
FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL. >> Reporter: SHE DROPPED OUT OF
SCHOOL AND HAD TWO CHILDREN OVER
THE NEXT TWO YEARS. >> MARRIAGE WAS HARD.
IT WAS ROCKY.
>> Reporter: ASHLEY AND HER
HUSBAND SPLIT UP WHEN THEIR
SECOND SON WAS ABOUT A YEAR AGO.
>> IF I COULD GO BACK AND TALK
TO MYSELF, I WOULD TELL MYSELF,
THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU WANT.
YOU KNOW, MY CHILD IS DEFINITELY
WHAT I WANTED.
BUT TO BE IN A LIFELONG
COMMITMENT TO A HUSBAND IS NOT
SOMETHING I SHOULD HAVE DONE AT
15.
15.
>> Reporter: MISSOURI IS ONE OF THE MOST LENIENT STATES WHEN IT
COMES TO THE LEGAL AGE OF
MARRIAGE, ONLY REQUIRING THE
SIGNATURE OF ONE PARENT OR LEGAL
GUARDIAN FOR CHILDREN AS YOUNG
AS 15.
WITH A JUDGES ORDER, CHILDREN
THERE CAN BE MARRIED AT ANY AGE. HOLLY RAIDER IS A STATE ANY AGE.
HOLLY RAIDER IS A STATE REPRESENTATIVE IN FAVOR OF
MAKING IT HARDER FOR TEENS TO
TIE THE KNOT.
FOR HER, ITS PERSONAL.
>> I GREW UP ON WELFARE.
MY MOM DIDNT WORK.
SHE STRUGGLED WITH MENTAL
ILLNESS.
ILLNESS.
SHE WAS MARRIED FIVE TIMES. LOTS OF BOYFRIENDS INSIDE AND
OUT OF THE HOUSE.
I WANTED OUT OF THAT.
>> Reporter: AT 15, HOLLY GOT
HER MOTHERS PERMISSION TO MARRY
HER 21-YEAR-OLD BOYFRIEND.
GETTING MARRIED AT A YOUNG AGE
WAS HOW I SAW MY WAY OUT.
I BOUGHT MATERIAL, MADE MY OWN
WEDDING DRESS, AND BOUGHT SOME
FLOWERS TO MAKE A SMALL BOUQUET.
>> Reporter: FOUR MONTHS LATER,
HOLLY WAS PREGNANT.
SHE DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL TO
CARE FOR HER MOTHER, INJURED IN A CAR ACCIDENT, AND FOR HER OWN
DAUGHTER, BORN SHORTLY AFTER HER
16th BIRTHDAY.
16th BIRTHDAY. HOLLY AND HER HUSBAND GOT
DIVORCED SEVEN YEARS LATER.
>> GETTING MARRIED AT 15, YOU
DONT KNOW WHAT YOU WANT.
LOOKING BACK, I WOULD HAVE HAD A
STRONGER PATH HAD I HAD WAITED
OUT THE THREE YEARS AND
GRADUATED AND THEN GOTTEN OUT.
>> JOINING ME NOW HERE IN THE
STUDIO, ASHLEY DUNCAN AND HOLLY
RAIDER.
RAIDER.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE. YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING
HERE.
>> THANK YOU. [ APPLAUSE ].
[ APPLAUSE ]
>> ASHLEY, IM GOING TO START WITH YOU., IM GOING TO START
WITH YOU.
IS IT TRUE, THEN, YOU DIDNT KNOW YOU WERE GETTING MARRIED
UNTIL THE DAY YOUR GRANDMA
PULLED YOU OFF THE BUS?
>> MY AUNT.
>> YOUR AUNT PULLED YOU OFF THE
BUS.
BUS.
>> I DIDNT KNOW I WAS GETTING
MARRIED UNTIL THAT DAY.
>> SHE SAID, COME ON, YOURE GETTING MARRIED?E ON, YOURE
GETTING MARRIED? >> YES.
>> YES. >> WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?
THE BEGINNING DAYS OF YOUR
MARRIAGE, WHAT WAS THAT LIKE FOR
YOU?
YOU?
>> IT WAS HARD.
I WAS VERY NERVOUS.
I DIDNT KNOW AT THE TIME WHAT I HAD GOTTEN MYSELF INTO.E WHAT I
HAD GOTTEN MYSELF INTO. >> AS YOU LOOK BACK AT IT NOW,
THIS IS -- YOURE 24 NOW?
>> UH-HUH.
>> UH-HUH. >> THIS IS NINE YEARS AGO.
A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY HAVING THE
BABY IS THE BIGGEST COMMITMENT
AND MARRIAGE MIGHT PALE IN
COMPARISON.
COMPARISON.
HOW DO YOU SEE IT? >> I KNEW FROM AN EARLY AGE I
WANTED TO BE A MOM.
BUT ITS SOMETHING I SHOULD HAVE
WAITED ON.
WAITED ON.
I DIDNT KNOW I WAS GOING TO BE
MARRIED AT 15.
>> WERE YOU IN ANY WAY READY FOR MARRIAGE?OU IN ANY WAY READY FOR
MARRIAGE? >> NO.
>> NO. >> AND HOW WAS IT?
>> THE MARRIAGE WAS HARD.
WE STRUGGLED FINANCIALLY.
AND IT JUST WASNT THE BEST
CHOICE THAT I SHOULD HAVE MADE
THAT CHOICE TO DO THAT.
>> ARE YOU WITH HIM NOW?
>> WERE CURRENTLY MARRIED BUT
WE ARE SEPARATED.
>> DID YOU EVER GO BACK AND
GRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL?
OR IS THAT A GOAL?
>> ITS ONE OF MY GOALS, YES.
I DROPPED OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL A
FEW MONTHS AFTER WE HAD GOTTEN
MARRIED.
MARRIED.
>> WE HEARD THIS STORY MANY TIMES, HOLLY.HIS STORY MANY
TIMES, HOLLY.
I WOULD SAY, YOURE THE
EXCEPTION, AS SOMEBODY WHO HAS
GONE ON AND BECOME A STATE
LEGISLATOR.
ITS HARD.
YOU SET YOURSELF BACK, IN THIS
CASE, HER AUNT AND UNCLE SET HER BACK BY PUSHING INTO AN EARLYHER
BACK BY PUSHING INTO AN EARLY MARRIAGE.
MARRIAGE.
AM I RIGHT?
>> RIGHT.
ITS A MUCH -- THE PATH IS SO MUCH MORE DIFFICULT.TH IS SO
MUCH MORE DIFFICULT. IF YOU CAN STAY IN SCHOOL,
GRADUATE AND THEN FIGURE OUT
WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.
HOW MUCH STRZOKONGER YOUR PATH C
BE.
BE.
QUITTING SCHOOL TO HELP TAKE CARE OF MY FAMILY, I WASTAKE
CARE OF MY FAMILY, I WAS MARRIED, THEN HAD A BABY RIGHT
AFTERWARDS.
AFTERWARDS.
AND I WAS TOSHRN BETWEEN, IM A KID.I WAS TOSHRN BETWEEN, IM A
KID.
I KNOW I HAVE TO BE AN ADULT. I HAVE TO HANDLE MY AN ADULT.
I HAVE TO HANDLE MY RESPONSIBILITIES.
RESPONSIBILITIES.
I ALWAYS DID. LOOKING BACK NOW, OF COURSE,
ITS LIKE, WOW.
I COULD HAVE REALLY CHANGED
THINGS.
THINGS.
I COULD HAVE HAD AN EASIER ROAD HAD I JUST GOTTEN EDUCATED,ROAD
HAD I JUST GOTTEN EDUCATED, GOTTEN MY HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE
FIRST.
FIRST.
>> AND YOU WERE TOO YOUNG,
REALLY, TO FULLY APPRECIATE IT.
I HOPE YOU SEE THAT, BOTH OF
YOU, YOU WERE TOO YOUNG TO BE FORCED TO MAKE THOSE DECISIONS.
THE STATE HAS A ROLE IN THIS.
AND YOUR GUARDIANS OR PARENTS
HAVE A ROLE IN THIS.
I READ IN MISSOURI, SOME OF THE
GIRLS GETTING MARRYIED AT AGE 15
ARE GETTING MARRIED TO MEN AS
OLD AS -- IN THEIR 50s.
AS LONG AS YOUR PARENT SIGNS OFF
ON THAT, YOURE FINE, YOURE
OKAY?
OKAY?
>> THATS WHAT REPRESENTATIVE
JEAN EVANS BROUGHT IN BILL
FORWARD WAS THE SEX TRAFFICKING
PROBLEM.
THATS WHAT IT WAS LAUNCHED OUT OF.TS WHAT IT WAS LAUNCHED OUT
OF.
>> YOURE GETTING PUSHBACK. SHES LOOKING FOR A BILL THAT
WOULD MAKE BARE MINIMUM THAT YOU
CANNOT GET MARRIED IN THE STATE
IF YOURE UNDER 17.
THERE WAS NOT SUPPORT FOR THAT.
WHY?
WHY?
>> WE HAVE A HIGH MENNONITE/ MENNONITE/AMISH POPULATION./
MENNONITE/AMISH POPULATION. THE BOYS GO TO SCHOOL THROUGH
EIGHTH GRADE AND THEY QUIT AND
BECOME CARPENTERS, WHAT HAVE
YOU.
YOU.
ITS A LINE TEETERING ON, OKAY, ARE WE GETTING INTO RELIGIOUS,
ARE WE GETTING INTO RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OR ARE WE HELPING WITH
GETTING -- OVER THE
GOVERNMENT -- LOOKING OVER
PRESENT AMARENTAL RIGHTS, AS WEL
WEVE SET THAT AGE ALREADY.
WE SET IT AT 15 OR 14.
>> THE STATE IS ALREADY
INTERFERING.
INTERFERING. >> EXACTLY.
>> EXACTLY. WHAT IS THE APPROPRIATE AGE?
WHAT IS RESPONSIBLE?
AND I THINK 17 MAKES SENSE.
THATS JUST TO HAVE A JUDGE LOOK
OVER IT.
OVER IT.