First let’s see the grim facts…

Although the following describes the situation in the United States, it reflects some of the realities faced by pregnant teens all over the world.

• Four in 10 girls become pregnant before age 20—over 900,000 teen pregnancies annually.
• About 40 percent of teen mothers are under 18 years of age.
• Children of teen parents suffer higher rates of abuse and neglect than children of older parents.
• Only 4 out of 10 mothers under the age of 18 finish high school.
• Nearly 80 percent of fathers do not marry the teen mothers of their children.
• Only 30 percent of teen mothers who marry after their child is born remain in those marriages; teen marriages are twice as likely to fail as marriages in which the woman is at least 25 years of age.
• Children of teen mothers are more likely to be born prematurely and at low birth weight, raising the probability of infant death, blindness, deafness, chronic respiratory problems, mental retardation, mental illness, cerebral palsy, dyslexia, and hyperactivity.

Taken from Not Just Another Single Issue: Teen Pregnancy Prevention’s Link to Other Critical Social Issues, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, February 2002

It would be simplistic to consider teen pregnancy to be merely an issue of contraception. The evidence indicates that teen pregnancy involves a number of complex social and emotional issues.

Research shows that many teen mothers come from broken homes. “My whole life all I have ever wanted was a real family” is the recurrent cry of many pregnant teens. Evidently, then, dysfunctional families may set the stage for teen pregnancy. An outreach program that assists teen mothers found that they often have “volatile relationships with their mothers and no relationships with their fathers.” Anita, who became a mother at the age of 18, remembers that although her single mother worked hard to provide for her materially, Anita still felt the emotional void created by the absence of her father.

Other girls become unwed mothers as a direct result of rape. For some of them, the trauma seems to trigger emotional pain that may become manifest later in destructive conduct. Jasmine, for example, was raped at age 15. “After that,” she remembers, “I became self-destructive. When I was 19, I got pregnant.” Sexual abuse may also trigger feelings of worthlessness. “I never felt worthy of anything,” laments Jasmine. Anita went through a similar ordeal: “Between the ages of 7 and 11, I was molested by a teenager. I hated myself. I blamed myself.” She became pregnant at the age of 17.

On the other hand, some youths are the victims of their own overconfidence and curiosity. Nicole, quoted in the preceding article, admits: “I thought that I had all the answers, that I was capable of doing anything. Unfortunately, I was also capable of having a baby.” Carol, who likewise became an unwed mother at an early age, experimented with sex because of curiosity. She says, “I felt there were things out there that I was missing.”

Ignorance of the consequences of sexual activity also plays a role. In Britain, according to sociologists Karen Rowlingson and Stephen McKay, some young people “lack accurate knowledge about . . . what to expect in relationships and what it means to get pregnant.” Some youths seemingly do not grasp the connection between sex and pregnancy. In one survey, teen mothers “often reported being shocked or surprised to find they were pregnant even if they had not been using contraception.”

Mothers Too Soon

“My boyfriend was a cute guy. He had money, and we could go places and have fun. When I missed my period, I realized something was wrong. How was I to tell my mom? How could this happen to me? I was only 16 years old, and I didn’t know what to do.”—Nicole.

TODAY Nicole, in her mid-30’s, is a confident, energetic mother of three. Her oldest child is 20 years of age. Yes, years ago she was one among millions of unmarried pregnant teens. Like other teenage mothers, she found herself lost in a morass of formidable challenges, tough decisions, and uncertain prospects.

Nicole does not often talk about the shock, the denial, the fear, the anger, and the despair that marked her late teenage years—a time when her peers worried about their clothes and school grades. Nevertheless, Nicole’s situation was not hopeless. She came from a loving family that had tried to instill high moral principles in her. Although for a while she chose to disregard those principles—and paid the consequences—later on, those same values led her to a productive and meaningful life. “Not all hope is lost” became her motto.

Unfortunately, not every teenage mother has a supportive family—or such an optimistic outlook. Many quickly find themselves trapped in a seemingly hopeless state of poverty. Some must deal with the emotional aftermath of rape and violence.

None of this bodes well for the children of teen mothers. Says the book Teen Moms—The Pain and the Promise, babies of teen mothers “tend to have lower birthweight, more childhood illnesses, more infant mortality, poorer medical care, suffer more from hunger and malnourishment; they are exposed to more violence, and have more delayed development than children born to older mothers.” Indeed, daughters of teen mothers are more likely to become teen moms themselves than are children born to older mothers.

How widespread is teen pregnancy? How can teenage mothers successfully face the challenges of raising their infants? Is there any way to help young ones avoid falling into such dire straits in the first place?