Note: This story was originally reported in September 2012.
In a deeply personal interview, Pattie Mallette shared the challenges she faced as a teenager—overcoming abuse, depression, and the difficult decision to keep her baby despite pressure to do otherwise. Before becoming a mother, Mallette endured years of sexual abuse, which she later described in her memoir Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber’s Mom. The trauma left her struggling with shame and self-blame.
“You carry this burden and feel like something is wrong with you,” she explained. Her pain eventually led to a suicide attempt during her teenage years. She said it was the result of years of abuse combined with depression and substance use. “It was a breaking point,” she recalled. At 17, Mallette discovered she was pregnant with Justin Bieber. Despite strong pressure to terminate the pregnancy, she chose to keep her baby.
“I didn’t know how I’d manage, but I knew I had to give him a chance,” she said. That decision shaped her life. As a young single mother, she faced financial struggles and uncertainty, but remained determined to give her son the best life possible. When Justin was born, she remembers being overwhelmed with love, describing his first cry as “the most precious sound.”
Over time, her perseverance paid off. Justin Bieber rose to global fame, becoming one of the world’s most recognized artists. Mallette’s journey—from trauma and hardship to raising a global star—is a powerful story of resilience, faith, and unconditional love.
