Zina’s decision is a common one for pregnant teens. In the backlash of feminism, and with the extreme ambivalence in our country toward abortion, more young women are keeping babies they didn’t intentionally conceive. For teens who do not terminate, only 2% give their babies up for adoption. But Zina says that she wouldn’t do anything differently. “These babies are a lifesaver in disguise,” she says.

Zina’s mother, Catherine, does not feel the same way. “We were shocked to find out that Zina was pregnant. We expected her to know better and we definitely expected that she would terminate. Zina is ruining her life. We will not support her on this.” Zina has since left her parents’ home and is living with friends.

Why Is Teen Pregnancy an Issue?

Bill Albert, Deputy Director of The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, says that we have had 15 years of good news, and now, we’ve become complacent: teen sex rates have decreased, teen contraceptive use has increased, teen abortion rates have decreased, and until now, teen birth rates had decreased. Without a crisis, we had forgotten that there was a need to be proactive. We need to continue to put our financial resources towards prevention.

It would be remiss of us not to consider the role that abstinence-only education plays in teen pregnancy, too. Evidence has proven that abstinence-only programs are ineffective, even though over $1.5 billion has been funneled into them over the last decade. Abstinence-only education fails our children because it does not prepare them for a time when they will make a decision to have sex. Though abstinence is certainly the best option for many teens, it is unlikely that all teens will abstain from sex indefinitely.

In addition to misinformation or the lack of information presented in these educational interventions, “What appears to be on the rise is teens keeping their babies/continuing their pregnancies,” says Elizabeth Casparian, Director of Educational Programs for HiTops. “There continues to be a huge stigma attached to pregnancy termination and a great deal more attention paid to adoption and being a teen mother.”

Another Scenario: Teens Raising Children

But while teen pregnancies are far from ideal situations, there is no rule that teen mothers are incapable of raising happy and healthy children.

Annie is now 20 years old, living in Seattle, with her two-year-old son. Upon finding out she was pregnant, she says that she wanted to influence someone’s life for the better. Annie’s parents were surprised, angry, but eventually supportive. Annie’s mom, Sandy, says, “I didn’t want her to have this baby. I wanted her to make another decision. But she wasn’t going to change her mind and I wasn’t willing to lose her or my beautiful grandson.”

Annie acknowledges that it was tough: “I didn't realize what I was giving up, how much harder it would be to go back to school, what the relationship with my boyfriend would turn into. I have always thrived on whatever is the most difficult. I think that, subconsciously, maybe I set myself up for this because I just had to take the hardest route so that I could have the greatest success in the end.”

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Issue: April 2008