Speaking today on “Good Morning America”, Bristol Palin discussed her new role as a spokesperson for sexual abstinence outside of marriage.

It was announced yesterday that Palin, 18, has been appointed as a Teen Ambassador for The Candie’s Foundation. In that capacity, she will serve as an advocate for abstinence.

Palin knows, as the most prominent out-of-wedlock teen mom in America, the difficulties that result from not remaining chaste.

She said telling her parents, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband Todd, that she had become pregnant last year at the age of 17 was “harder than labor.”

“I knew that it would be a huge shock and a huge surprise for my parents,” Palin said. “I hope that me speaking out now will prevent girls from having to do that in the future.”

Asked what was “the biggest surprise” about being a mother, Bristol said, “It’s a 24-hour job and it’s a huge responsibility.”

And Bristol is experiencing another one of the difficult realities that confronts many teen moms: She and four-month-old Tripp’s father, Levi Johnston, split up shortly after their son was born.

Palin told “Good Morning America” she never considered abortion as an option — “I knew from the second I found out that I was pregnant I was going to keep the baby” — and she said Tripp is a “blessing” and “the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Added Palin, “He’s the love of my life but I do wish that years from now I could have had the same son.”

That’s part of the message Bristol Palin intends to convey to other American teens, as an advocate for abstinence before marriage who is speaking from painful personal experience.

Said Palin, “I just want to go out there and just promote abstinence and just say, ‘This is the safest choice, this is the choice that’s going to prevent teen pregnancy and prevent a lot of heartache.’”