Lauren Darlington looked every bit the sweet 16-year-old with a mouth full of braces when her mum forged her birth certificate so she could work as a prostitute. Seven years later she is real, raw about her demons, blogging to touch others.
"I wasn't eating well or sleeping and I was using drugs the clients would give me at work to keep me awake," Lauren said of her time as a Sydney escort.
"Mum got half of what I made for 'driving me around'."
Lauren agreed to having sex for money - she wanted to get her mum out of financial trouble. But now, aged 23, she realises she was a vulnerable child and she is still paying the price and trying to make sense of the memories.
Looking back she can see she was being groomed, heavily influenced by adults she trusted. And the world of prostitution was glorified.
"Mum's friend spoke about how easy it was to sleep with guys for money. She saw them as bags and jewellery and new clothes. She had me around male friends older than me and was saying how beautiful I was and encouraged me to be with her friend, an older male.