This is abstracted from an infomercial for an interesting agency that pairs up teen moms and babies with "foster parents." It has some good statistics on teen pregnancy and motherhood.
I produced this abstract using time paid for by the Quay County Maternal Child and Community Health Council with funds from the New Mexico Department of Health.When a young woman becomes pregnant during her teenage years, she steps onto the stage of an enormous social drama now being acted out across the country. Her pregnancy will forever alter her life, pushing her own childhood firmly into the past and putting her future indefinitely on hold. Yet, her dilemma is hardly unique. Thousands of teenagers find themselves in the same situation each day.
One million young women ages 15 through 19 become pregnant each year. Of those teens who deliver their babies, 72 percent are single. More than 80 percent end up in poverty and dependent on public assistance.
[...]The adolescent mother’s life prospects are poor, says the report [Robin Hood Foundation's "Kids Having Kids"], because of interrupted education, lack of employment skills, reduced earning capacity, additional childbearing and reliance on public assistance. In short, these teenagers are severely handicapped as they attempt to move beyond very difficult circumstances.
The odds are also stacked against their offspring. Babies of teenage mothers are likely to be born prematurely and have low birth weights, both indicators of a variety of physical and mental disabilities. As they grow up, they are likely to suffer from diseases and generally poor health. And these children are much more likely later to be runaways, have trouble in school, be high school dropouts, suffer abuse and neglect, be placed in foster care, become adolescent parents themselves, go to prison, and lead generally unproductive lives.
[...]Despite attempts to develop a "profile" of adolescent moms, there is no single factor or set of circumstances that explains why teenagers become pregnant. A great many factors contribute to this problem, and greatly complicate its solution.
There is often a common thread of poverty, ignorance and family dysfunction among pregnant teens. But many young women from well-educated, financially stable families also find themselves in this dilemma. In fact, adolescent moms come from a wide variety of economic backgrounds and social groups.
Perpetuation of previous generations’ parenting patterns is a common phenomenon. A pregnant 15-year-old’s mother may be only 30 and the grandmother,45. Since the women of the family have, across the generations, had children by age 15, early childbearing becomes an expectation (even if unstated) for the next in line. This inter-generational pattern is prevalent both in rural and urban populations, especially among families with low levels of education and economic achievement.
Other teens become pregnant – either by conscious decision or by "accident" – because their own families have failed to meet their emotional needs, and they want "something that’s theirs to love." They view the unborn baby like a doll – something they will be able to cuddle and hold onto.
Still others, especially young women from upper-middle-class families, become pregnant as a form of rebellion, of "thumbing their noses" at family tradition. It is not unusual for such teenagers to be rejected because they have brought shame on their families.
Tragically, a very high percentage of teenage mothers are victims of sexual abuse, most often at the hands of adult males who are relatives or family acquaintances. For these adolescents, decisions about motherhood are vastly complicated by the trauma they have suffered within their own homes.
[...] Can we prevent teen pregnancy?
The
experts agree that a number of factors can positively
impact the bottom line on teen pregnancy:
She praises the KidsPeace Intensive Treatment Family Program, through which pregnant teens and, later, their babies receive round-the-clock care from specially trained foster families. "The vast majority of these children are not able to parent and mold the life of their child. It is critical that all of us advocate for the infant in order to break this cycle. In order to nurture, one must be nurtured."
[...] Linda Drusda, manager of the Pottsville, Pennsylvania, branch of KidsPeace’s Intensive Treatment Family Program, explains that along with a loving home, the therapeutic foster family provides extra support for the pregnant teenager and helps her become a caring mother. But while these surrogate parents offer ample advice and emotional support, their main objective is to help the young mother grow and flourish in her role as the primary parent. "Foster parents are responsible for the teen and her child," says Drusda. "The families are expected to advise and support their foster child at all times, and to intervene in the parenting process only when necessary." [...] Drusda says she is seeing more pregnant teens coming into foster care. She attributes this to the increase in teenage pregnancy in general and to the large number of highly stressed families whose coping skills are already at the breaking point. "The numbers are growing," Drusda says. "This is a serious national trend, and it’s not going to go away. We need to find positive ways to create a future for these teen moms that is better than their past. We need to help all young women believe in themselves and their future, so they can make intelligent decisions about the very adult role of being a parent."