The realities of teen pregnancy

Each year in the United States, roughly 750,000 girls become pregnant, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Of that number, there were 435,436 live births to mothers ages 15-19.

But beyond that staggering number, there are many more critical issues that emerge when considering the impact teen pregnancy.

In the United States, young women have options not only with what to do with their child once it is born, but also how to prevent conception, and options that can be done after conception such as abortion. Whether a young woman should engage in any type of sexual relations is her choice, but if she does choose to have sex there are different birth control methods she can choose from to prevent pregnancy.

Common types of contraceptives include barrier methods, hormonal methods and surgical procedures.

The most common type of barrier contraceptive is the condom. Condoms are a latex covering that go over the penis to prevent ejaculation from entering the woman’s body. Condoms are also effective in preventing the passing of sexually transmitted diseases between partners such as HIV, Chlamydia, and Gonorrhea.

The most mainstream hormonal birth control is “The Pill” – an ingested pill that has a combination estrogen and progesterone that prevents ovulation, the time when an egg is released in a female cycle. The pill also thickens the mucus around the cervix which makes it hard for sperm to reach any eggs that might have already been released. There are more complicated types of hormonal birth control that need to be given or inserted by a health care professional including: Depo-Provera, which is injected into a woman’s arm muscle or buttocks every three months; Norplant, which is an implant that is put under the skin and is effective for five years, and the emergency contraceptive pill also known as “the morning after pill,” which if taken within 72 hours of sex prevents pregnancy. However, the morning after pill is not meant to be used as everyday birth control.

According to a study done by the Guttmacher Institute, by the age of 15, 13 percent of teens have had sex, by the age of 19, 70 percent of teens have had sex. The United States has the highest pregnancy rate out of all developed nations, a number that is eight times the amount in Japan and the Netherlands.

Since many teen moms cannot fully support their children financially the United States spends about $7 billion on lost tax revenues, foster care, child health care, young families who are involved in the criminal justice system, and public assistance, according to Stanley J. Swierzewski III M.D. the founder of healthcommunities.com. Swierzewski observes that males who are born to teenage mothers are 13 percent more likely to be incarcerated later in life, and females born to teenage mothers are 22 percent more likely to also become teenage mothers.

According to the CDC, there are 42 live births to every 1000 teenage women in the United States each year, including 17 per 1000 among Asian/Pacific Islander women; 38 per 1000 Caucasian women; 55 per 1000 among American Indian, Alaska Native, 65 per 1000 among Black women; and 83 per 1000 among Hispanic women. This data is from 2006 – the most recent year available.

Q&A with a  woman who had twins around the age of 18:

MTHS 1993 alumna Candace Searles is a mother of twins who are current MTHS students. Candace gave birth to her children on March 2, 1993. Just 35 years old, Candace recently sat down with the Hawkeye and shared her insights into her senior year of high school.

Q: What was your first reaction when you found out you were pregnant?

A: Scared for two reasons: one, just to be a teen mom and two, to what my parents reaction would be.

Q: Was anyone supporting you?

A: My parents, friends and family, and my CLIP teacher. They talked with me about my options and told me they would support me with whatever I decided to do. They let me cry if I needed to cry, let me be mad if I needed to be mad, and they took me to my doctors
appointments.

Q: Did you consider options other than giving birth?

A: I considered both adoption and terminating the pregnancy, but I knew they were options I didn’t want and wasn’t ready for.

Q: Do you have any advice to teen moms today?

A: We used two types of protection, Depo and condoms, and I still got pregnant. Even if you think you’re protected you’re not. I know I can’t expect you to abstain from sex, but just be smart.

Q: Would life be better if you hadn’t gotten pregnant in high school?

A: I went to college and got my teaching degree. I don’t think I would have done anything differently. I am a fairly young mom, my kids don’t have to worry about me dying while they are still in high school, and I can relate to a lot of what they are going through. But it was hard being a single mom, I worked two jobs and went to school full-time.

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