Teenage Pregnancy Facts

Before the age of 20, 34% of teenage girls will have become pregnant at least once.

And that's something to say. The United States of America reports the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in the world. And while you might know some of the reasons that lead to an alarming rate of teenage pregnancies, you might not be aware of certain other facts that come with it. In the article that follows, we shall take a closer look at some of these teenage pregnancy facts, figures, and issues that go on to influence teenage pregnancies.

Facts About Teenage Pregnancy

The following are certain facts and statistics that have been reached upon after a lot of research and study. These help in understanding the extent and consequences of teenage pregnancies:

• Of all the teenage pregnancies that take place, 79% are to those who are not married.
• Girls who have had sexual intercourse at early ages (12-14) say that it was not planned, was involuntary, or that they did it because their boyfriends wanted them to. The younger the age is, the more likely it is that the first sexual act was involuntary.
• The Hispanics and the African-American teenage girls hold the highest teenage birth rate in the US.
• Of the teenage girls who become pregnant, very few go on to complete high school and almost a negligible sum have college degrees.
• There are certain consequences of teen pregnancies―children born of teenage pregnancies have a high risk of being prematurely born, and are usually weaker, abused (more likely), neglected (more likely), perform poorly in school, and have been shown to have high chances of being bullied.
• Most teenage mothers (80%) end up on welfare.
• Most teenage pregnancies happen within the first 6 months of the first sexual encounter.
• Most teenage mothers will have a second baby within 3 years of their first child.
• The sons of teenage mothers are more likely to go to prison.
• The girls of teenage mothers are more likely to become teenage mothers themselves.
• Children who have been raised by both parents are less likely to have early sexual encounters.
• Almost 29% of teenage pregnancies end up in abortion.
• 14% of teenage girls end up miscarrying.
• Most teenage births are borne by girls who fall in the age bracket of 18 and 19.
• Teenage mothers are more likely to live in poverty.

Facts and Myths

Along with these facts, there are also several myths that have developed. Here are some of them:

• A teenage boy who has fathered a baby does not have to pay for child support
  (No matter how young he is, he has to pay child support till the child is 18 years of age. There are laws to protect an unwed mother.)
• You can't get pregnant when you're young.
  (There are more chances of a teenage pregnancy because girls are more fertile when young, as well as the sperms are more healthy.)
• It's not possible to get pregnant on your period.
  (It is possible because the semen can stay inside the body for over a week and fertilize an egg when you ovulate the next time over.)
• If there is no sexual intercourse (penal) there won't be a pregnancy.
  (If there is body contact and your partner ejaculates anywhere in your vicinity then there are chances of a pregnancy.)
• There will be no pregnancy if he does not ejaculate inside you.
  (There might be traces of pre-ejaculate liquid which contains sperms as well, and before the partner even pulls out, this can be left in and cause a pregnancy.)

The extent of teenage pregnancies have reduced over the years with teens delaying sexual activities and using varied birth control and contraceptive methods. But there is still a need for the figure to lower.