Over the years, there have been many controversial storylines in EastEnders history, but one that has been fairly frequent has been teen pregnancy.
Although it is a tough subject, the way the soap handles the topic is brilliant and with Lily Slater [Lillia Turner] currently pregnant with Ricky Mitchell's [Frankie Day] baby, we thought we’d take a trip down memory lane to revisit some of the iconic storylines.
Lily Slater
Lily found out that she was pregnant at just 12 years old on New Year's Day after the Slater family were hospitalised due to carbon monoxide poisoning in their home.
Due to her age, social services got involved and told Lily’s mum Stacey [Lacey Turner] that they were concerned that Lily might have been abused. With that hanging over their heads, Lily, who initially refused to name the dad, admitted that she had slept with Jack Branning’s [Scott Maslen} and Sam Mitchell’s [now played by Kim Medcalf] son Ricky.
Lily then debated having an abortion before deciding that she wanted to keep the baby.
Sonia Fowler
Sonia Fowler's [Natalie Cassidy] pregnancy was one of the biggest shocks in EastEnders history, and not just in terms of her age but she didn’t even know that she was pregnant until she went into labour in October 2000.
Though residents in Walford suspected the dad to be Jamie Mitchell [Jack Ryder], who Sonia was dating at the time, it was revealed that Martin Fowler [then played by James Alexandrou] was actually the father.
The storyline took a dramatic turn after Sonia decided to give up baby Chloe for adoption but after she was taken, Sonia became obsessed with getting her daughter back and even went on to kidnap her.
Eventually, Sonia regained custody of Chloe, who is now named Bex, after her adoptive family died.
Kat Slater
Kat Slater’s [Jessie Wallace] story is the most harrowing on this list. She found out that she was pregnant at 13 after being sexually abused by her uncle Harry. Her daughter, Zoe [Michelle Ryan], was raised by her grandparents and the truth about Kat being her biological mum (and not her sister), came to light with one of the best lines in the soap's history.
After Zoe announced her intentions to move to Spain with her uncle Harry (who was her biological dad), an overprotective Kat said she wasn't allowed to go. Then, an argument broke out where Zoe told Kat, “You ain’t my muvva”, only for Kat to scream back “Yes I am!”
Lola Pearce
After arriving in Walford with her grandad Billy Mitchell [Perry Fenwick], Lola Pearce [Danielle Harold] slept with her third cousin Ben Mitchell [then played by Joshua Pascoe]. After finding out that she's pregnant at 15, Lola told Ben that he isn’t the dad.
Lola didn't have an easy time during her pregnancy - she's told by Pat Evans [Pam St Clement] to have an abortion and fell down the stairs after being accused of stalking Phil Mitchell [Steve McFadden].
Since then, everything about her baby daddy's identity has come to light and Ben has helped Lola co-parent Lexi.
Demi Miller
A heavily pregnant Demi Miller [Shane Swash] arrived in the Square with her family, and she was frequently bullied by classmates over her pregnancy. She gave birth just two months later on the school playground with the help of Pauline Fowler [Wendy Richard] to her daughter Aleesha.
Demi’s baby daddy was her boyfriend Leo Taylor [Philip Dowling], and although Leo wanted to be involved with Aleesha’s upbringing, his dad Ray [Dorian Lough] angrily refused his son from having contact with his little girl.
Ray’s bitter decision to keep the teens apart, fuelled the pair to continue to see one another secretly. They ran away from Walford with their daughter, and Leo began to sell drugs to support them.
Tragedy struck when Demi, who turned to drugs after struggling mentally, overdosed and when her boyfriend found her, he overdosed too. Demi then woke up and after Leo collapsed in her arms, he died.