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Rosario Dawson didn't want to be a teen mother

Aug 13, 2012, 10:01 GMT

Rosario Dawson

Rosario Dawson was warned by her mother not to get pregnant when she was a teenager.

The 33-year-old actress' mum, Isabel, had her when she was just 16 and she was always keen for her daughter not to follow in her footsteps so was very open when it came to talking about sex.

Rosario - who is dating Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle - said: 'My mom Isabel was pregnant with me when she was just 16, and she taught me not to get pregnant when I was young. She raised me talking to me about sex, maybe a little too early. But she made sure I had the choices she didn't have. I wanted to go travelling and wanted to do this and that.

'So I have avoided getting pregnant, and marriage. I am not against either. But my mom did not marry my biological dad, who I've never even met. She married Greg (Dawson) when I was a baby and I regarded him as my real dad.'

As well as knowing the risks of getting pregnant, Rosario was also taught about the other consequences of having unprotected sex - sexually transmitted diseases.

She told The Sun newspaper: 'I knew about the risk of Aids, for example, from the age of about six. I am of the generation that grew up with Aids - just as the next generation had iPods and all they know is high-speed internet.

'My mom was of the previous generation where if you had unprotected sex you could get pregnant. For me, unprotected sex could kill you.'