Hi,

I am currently studying my HSC and am doing a major research assignment on Teenage Pregnancy. I was wondering if you could please send me any information on this topic, such as; ways to cope with it, such as abortion, keeping the baby etc, just anything at all would be of a great help to me

Thank you,

Lauren

Dear Lauren,

The topic of teenage pregnancy is pretty broad. One of the first things to deal with--is that too often "unwanted" automatically precedes teenage pregnancy, when in reality, many teenage pregnancies are wanted. The choices that are available to teenagers are the same ones that are available to any woman who is pregnant. And, I believe, chosen as often regardless of age. As you have outlined, those choices are: abortion, adoption, keeping the baby.

The one thing that does seem to affect teenagers at a great rate is having later term abortions and/or waiting too long to have an abortion and then choosing to carry the fetus to full-term. This happens because there is still so many stigmas against teenagers who get pregnant and too few outlets for them to discuss their choices. Teenagers often don't even have their own health insurance and, therefore, often can't make the decision without confronting a parent, something they don't always want to do.

There are places that can help you answer your questions in greater detail. For instance, Advocates for Youth (a youth advocacy group based in Washington, DC), Alan Guttmacher Institute (which does research on all women's health issues, including teenage pregnancy), and the VOX site, which is sponsored by Planned Parenthood Federation of America. These sites should give you more detailed information.

Good luck.

—Amy