This article is concerned with exploring the impact of stigma upon teenage mothers. Drawing upon the findings of in-depth interviews with 20 teenage mothers, the study explores the ways and contexts within which stigma is experienced and identifies differential effects and coping mechanisms reported by the participants. Thereafter, it is suggested that, within many teenage mothers' families of origin, there exists a value system within which young motherhood is worthy and esteemed, a tradition at odds with contemporary ideals for motherhood. The discussion then considers the disjunction between the problematical perception of teenage motherhood among policy-makers and the views of teenage mothers themselves, and goes on to suggest possible implications of such contradictions for New Labour's social policy interventions into the lives of young people. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.)