"This is just a bonus," she told The Associated Press.
Other residents were more defensive about their unlikely poster boy.
"They're all good kids around here," says Philip Jacksi, a neighbor of the Johnston family. "Some are bad apples as always, but there are a lot of lies and mistruths out there. Sarah and her family and Levi, we hope they can survive all these assaults on their integrity."
Johnston went from obscurity to infamy on Tuesday when he was revealed as the father of Bristol's unborn child, especially surprising considering some of the sentiments he expressed on his MySpace about parenthood.
"I don't want kids," the teen wrote on his page, despite the Palin family's assertion that the teen couple was planning to marry. It also shed light on the challenges faced by teen fathers.
Johnston joins a small minority of his peers, including Casey Aldridge, the father of Jamie Lynn Spears' child who was only 18 when the infant was born. Aldridge, whose family did not return calls for comment, was engaged to be married to Jamie Lynn, but no date had been set.
Overall, studies show that only 1.7 percent of teenage males were fathers in 2002, a decline since the early 1990s.
The majority of teen mothers are impregnated by men age 20 or older. Teen fathers are often unequipped to deal with the responsibility thrust upon them, according to most social workers and therapists.
While there are many support services for teen mothers, teen fathers are often left out, despite studies showing that they are more prone to delinquency, reduced educational attainment, financial hardship and unstable marriage patterns.
Michael Schieding, a sophomore at Endicott College, who was 17 when his son, Skyler, was born, had some sound advice for Johnston.
"Stick with it and learn patience all you can," he said, adding that he hopes that Johnston is willing to step up and take on the responsibility.
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