Teens Pregnancy Between Ages 15-19

Nakeda Denise Ford

Imagine an average group of teenage girls still in high school that have always done everything together. They make straight A’s in school and belong to a wealthy family, and soon they decide to come up with a pack. The pack is for every one of them to become pregnant by their boyfriend or a random guy. Planning the pregnancy pack, the girls are unaware of the consequences that their actions may bring them. Now picture a young female around the age of sixteen who feels very unwanted and unloved by society and even her own parents. Feeling abandoned and alone, she decides to become pregnant to fulfill the need of love. The next young women seems to have fallen in love with her new boyfriend believing he is the answer to her problems, but he seems to be pushing away from her and starts to pursue other females. Feeling as if she has no control over the situation, she decides to become pregnant believing that a child will bring them closer together. Only she succeeds at bringing them farther apart. What do these three cases have in common? What may lead these young girls to become pregnant, and why does pregnancy seem to be the solution to their problem? There are many answers to these questions. The following examples will explain what kind of situation and what state of mind influences these girls to become pregnant. One reason could be that teens see others female pregnant or to keep their relationship stable. Another reason teenager gets pregnant because of loneliness. There are also other contributors of teen pregnancy. Teenagers today are having sex at a young age thinking that they are responsible and able to take care of a baby. Teen pregnancy can also result because of a lack of sex education and birth control in schools. Young females of this generation do not think of the consequences before they go out and engage in something that can seriously affect their future. To better present the ideas within this paper, it is necessary to give a definition of teen pregnancy. In 2006 the total number of live births per 1,000 women aged 15-17 was 22.0 and for women around the age 18 and 19 the number was 73.0, both instances the first increase since 1991(Kendall 495). Teen pregnancy rates are becoming higher every year. Although many teens decide to become pregnant for the several reasons, they fail to think about other aspects related to their pregnancy, but rather focus on the one reason for them choosing to become pregnant. Teenagers who are becoming pregnant have a higher risk of running into social aspects and economic issues. According to Kendall, teenage pregnancies are a popular topic in the media and political disclosures, and the United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the Western industrialized world (Kendall 495). Young women today gain the attention from the community by becoming pregnant. Many times, this attention is exactly what they need.
In today’s society, becoming pregnant is like a cycle. Everyone is trying or planning to do it. Teenagers sometimes get pregnant because they see other females pregnant. According to Miller, some girls may see their friends having babies and then decided to get pregnant themselves just to get the same attention they have witnessed given to others (Miller 17). When young women begin to feel like this, they may be experiencing low-esteem and the lack of family involvement. Interviewing a friend she stated, “ If her parents acted like a parents she would not have to be in the situation she’s in now.” If parents today take the time out to pay more attention to their children, they would not need to turn to their peers or to others in the community for attention. If teens have someone to give them advice about pregnancy and explain to them all factors associated with making the decision to become pregnant, such as putting education first, then maybe not decide differently. Many teenage girls see themselves as having nothing to strive for like graduating from high school because they have few role models to follow, their teachers give them little encouragement about their abilities, and friends are becoming pregnant. Parenting looks like the best thing going, many girls think, because babies provide an immediate source of unconditional love," Parrot said. Teens in foster care are more likely to get pregnant than teens that are at home with their parents. In fact, teen girls in foster care are two and a half times more likely than those not in the system to experience a pregnancy by age 19 (Blick 16). This may happen because of the family related issues. They see what other teens in foster care are doing and seek to do the same to gain attention as well. Again, no one is there to give them advice. Young adults may experience struggles in their relationship and may be able to sense when their spouse wants out. Thinking that becoming pregnant will somehow savage their relationship, most females find the need to get pregnant to mend a broken or unstable relationship, their young and undeveloped minds seem unable to comprehend the dangers involved in teenage pregnancy. Some teenagers try to become pregnant to keep their relationship stable. Even if their boyfriend decides to stay with the for child shake, the problems will still be there, and will only resurface later on. When becoming pregnant the female will have to deal with the stress and other things that come along with the pregnancy and the relationship may end. Teenager also become pregnant because they know the father will be there for her and the baby. In most article they explain to there readers about how fathers neglect there children but there are some fathers out there who are willing to take care what there. Maybe that is why teens get pregnant to try to find the same kind of treatments.
In some cases, older teenagers who have decided to get married may decide to get pregnant to start a family early (Miller 15). Most young women believe in getting married at a young age before getting pregnant because of their religion. These cases are very rare because almost 71 percent of females are unmarried or live with their baby fathers (Miller 16). Adolescent’s females have a weak mind especially when it comes to men. Young women seem to get pregnant to support their financial need for her and her male partner by becoming pregnant. Young women become pregnant, not because the value children, but because of the amount of benefits they receive (Stewart 1). By been place on welfare young women think becoming pregnant will be their solution to their problem. Fertile welfare receipts is actually lower than the fertility rate among women not on welfare (Stewart 1). It is best for welfare program to invest in each home and help young teens get a job.
Young teenager believe in getting pregnant by older men. They fill that an older man can take care of them and fulfill their financial needs by supporting them and the baby. Been with an older man they believe that the relationship may work. This information may and may not be true because some men bail out on women after they become pregnant. Some men are unable to take care of her and the baby. Abusive relationship can also cause a female to become pregnant. According to Miller twenty –six percent of girls reported their partners were actively tiring to get them pregnant by manipulating condom use, sabotaging birth control and making explicit statements about wanting them pregnant (Miller1). An abusive relationship can affect the female in many ways causing her to be afraid her partner and listening to his commands. “Think of forced sex as an aspect of abusive relationships, but this takes that abuse a step further to reproductive control of a young woman's body (Miller 1).” When teenager seem be in an abusive relationship she tends to be scared of her partner and have know one to turn to. When young women seem to say their partner want a baby instead of them mostly there involved in a abusive relationship.

The biggest issue teens face is been lonely. Many teenagers today do not have a father figure which causes them to become pregnancy because of the

Piaget, J. The Moral Judgement Of The Child. New York: The Free Press, 1965.