Parental Guidance and Teenage Pregnancy

I know of someone who is a senior in high school and a few months shy of turning eighteen. With great aspirations and book smarts she obviously has the world in the palm of her hand. Unfortunately, like any number of young sexually active teens, she has found out that she is pregnant with only a few months left until graduation. What is a girl to do?

Daddy’s Plan

Her father has already decided that she will keep her child. This isn’t the first time that he has made a decision like this for his children. He told his eldest daughter who is well into her late twenties with two young boys of her own not to terminate her pregnancy when she discovered that she was expecting for a third time. However, after pondering over her situation she decided to place the child in the hands of a more productive caregiver soon after giving birth.

For whatever reason, she personally believed that it was in the best interest of the child and herself if she placed him in the care of a more responsible adult who is better equipped to give him what he needs to become a productive citizen. Although she is working, has a working automobile, a roof over her head, two preteen boys who are functioning well in society, and a little state aid to help carry her and the boys through, she felt in her heart and knew in her head that she could not take care of a third child.

Sitting between a rock and a hard place

Unlike her sister, this young woman is under the age of eighteen, so she may not have much say in this situation. Rather she likes it or not, she has to keep the baby simply because her father says so. But I am wondering is her father’s choice in having her keep the baby taking pro-choice too far? If any of you knew of a young woman who had the world in the palm of her hands and had no reason (financially and emotionally) to have a child to begin with, would you make her keep the baby? Would you have her forfeit the opportunity of pursuing a world class education based on her high academic achievements in high school? She wants to go off to college and make something of herself. She wants more than what her small southern town has to offer her. Is that wrong?

Is it wrong not to want or desire a child at such a young and unprepared stage of life? According to the Advocates for Youth web site (advocatesforyouth.org) 66 percent of teenage births in the U.S. occur between the ages of 18 and 19. The majority of these teenagers come from socially and/or economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Although American teenagers are becoming better educated with contraceptives or abstinence, the United States continues to have the highest teen pregnancy, birth and abortion rate than any other industrialized nation. This information alone is startling.

Where do we draw the line?

Where do we draw the line when it comes to pro-choice and pro-life? At what point do we allow a woman to have an abortion or suggest that she keeps her baby? When will we ever learn to keep our own personal beliefs and desires out of someone else’s dilemma? Is it safe to say that sometimes people do not think clearly when they are advocating one point of view over the other? Either way you look at it, this young woman’s life is about to change dramatically. She will soon embark on becoming another statistic or a young unwed mother before finishing high school.

She is about to join the long list of teenagers who are “babies having babies” and her child is on the way of becoming just another baby born out of wedlock. I only pray that at some point we realize as a people that making a person have a child doesn’t always help the situation. In this case, especially when the one having the baby doesn’t possess the education, the maturity, or the finances to raise the child without any guarantee that in the end we may have to pick up the tab.

Reference:

• advocatesforyouth.org