Teenage Pregnancy

16 & Pregnant was created by MTV producers to show the awareness of teen pregnancy.

This show also showed millions of viewers the challenges that young mothers face each and every day. We witnessed some moms finish school, and some not. Some found jobs to support their babies by themselves and some were able to depend on their boyfriends. One couple even gave their baby up for adoption. Even though this show was created to prevent girls from getting pregnant, there has been some reports of young girls getting pregnant to appear on the show. Talk about Backfiring?

87% of births to teens between the ages of 15 and 19 occur to unmarried women.

These young mothers became pregnant with Twins. That is double the cost, double the crying, double the changing, double the feeding, and double the needs.

5% of Pregnant Teens will place their baby up for adoption.

Less than 20% of teenage mothers manage to stay in a relationship with their babys fathers.

Statistics on Teenage Mothers

A sexually active teen who does not use contraceptives has a 90% chance of becoming pregnant within a year. Teen mothers are more likely to deliver prematurely and to have low birth weight babies, with accompanying risks of infant death, blindness, deafness, retardation, mental illness and other permanent problems About 13% of U.S. births involve teen mothers and about 25% of teenage girls who give birth have another baby within 2 years. Only one-third of teenage mothers complete high school and receive their diplomas

By age 30, only 1.5 percent of women who had pregnancies as a teenager have a college degree.
80 percent of unmarried teen mothers end up on welfare The father abandons the pregnant girl 90 percent of the time and pays, on average, less than $800 annually in child support

Pregnancy resources
Planned parenthood: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/ South Austin pregnancy resource center: http://saprc.org/site/ Austin area birthing center: http://www.austinabc.com/

My story
I became pregnant with my son at the age of 16 with my then boyfriend of 5 months. I was so blessed to have such supportive parents and we all agreed, I would keep the baby. I was a junior in high school and as the pregnancy progressed, my grades began to slip. His father was there throughout the whole 9 months and we were so excited about having a boy. He had dropped out of school and was unemployed, but he was there for emotional support which is what I thought mattered most. I gave birth to Dominic Elijah Sanchez on May 17th 2011. He was perfectly healthy, and everybody welcomed him with open arms. After Dominic was born, John (His Dad) found a job and received his G.E.D. I was so proud of him. I didnt want to go to a regular high school after my having my baby so I decided to interview for Garza High and I was accepted. I knew finishing school was crucial for Dominics future. 4 months later, me and John split up. He said he would stay in our sons life but I soon lost contact with him and continued to get my education. He did not see Dominic until he was 8 months old. I am a single mom to happy healthy baby and will be receiving my diploma in May. I hope to start ACC in the fall so I can get a good paying job and support Dominic on my own. I became a statistic and at the same time, beat some. If I had a choice I wouldve waited till we were both ready to have a family so my son would have all he needs and wouldnt have to be split between two parents. All your choices effects that child and food, diapers, and all the necessities really add up. Having a baby changes your life completely, but I love my son and am doing all I can so that he has the best life I can give him.

Site Page
http://firstthings.org/page/research/out-of-wedlock-pregnancy-fact-sheet http://www.guttmacher.org/datacenter/profiles/US.jsp http://www.cedu.niu.edu/~shumow/iit/Teenage%20Pregnancy.pdf http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/?q=node/52 http://www.cedu.niu.edu/~shumow/iit/Teenage%20Pregnancy.pdf http://www.teenhelp.com/teen-pregnancy/teen-pregnancy-statistics.html