A Mere Child
One glance at this person’s XVII tattoo and you might think that she experienced something traumatic when she was 17 years old. This is only partially true. The real fact of the matter is that the XVII tattoo (17) was made in remembrance of the OP’s mother.
She gave birth to the OP when she was just 17 years old, meaning she was a mere child when she first brought life into the world. Although the daughter was eventually given up for adoption, she decided to pay homage to the person who gave her life. Staying with a teenager might’ve meant destruction for the two of them.