Pregnancy In The United States

Pregnancy is a natural condition that usually brings joy, positively changing people’s lives. While pregnancy is seen as a welcomed transition to motherhood for many women, unplanned pregnancies can be traumatic. For teens especially, an unplanned pregnancy is not harmless. Analysis by (Medoff, 2010) shows that 90% of teens become pregnant yearly unintentionally and half of these pregnancies result in a live birth (p. 1). Also about 750,000 teenagers become pregnant at least ounce before turning 20 (Dorlisa & shandler, 2011). Research indicates that the United States is the country with the highest rates of teen births when compared with other developed countries (Cavazos-Rehg et al., 2013). Early childbearing worldwide is a social crisis

Women were not focused on educational achievement; they will get married and start their own families early in life. However, in the 21st century educational opportunities became available; women strived to begin their careers before they have children. Despite educational opportunities to women, pregnancy rate was still high among young girls and according to Medoff, (2010) “Teen pregnancy is one of the most important social problems in the United States” (p. 177). Women are very happy to be pregnant, but it is totally different when a teenager becomes pregnant. Adolescents tend to get involved in sexual activities at the early ages. To illustrate, one of my co-worker who is 34 years old now, claims that she was smart enough to have sexual inter-course at age 15, just because she wanted to experience sex. Adolescents are prone to be engaged in risky sexual behaviors because they are not educated about the post-traumatic stress related to that. It is due to the developmental changes, the bodily changes of sexual maturation and the formation of sexual identity during adolescence stage (Schwarz, 2010). During the adolescent year, young people dealing with stress, such as puberty, hormonal changes, social acceptance simultaneously. Young adolescents with poor coping strategies may not be able to overcome these situations. Consequently, an unplanned pregnancy jeopardizes teen’s social wellness by

In 2009, more than 400,000 of children from teen births were in foster care (Lieberman, 2014). Teens mother are more likely to experience financial hardship and have to struggle to provide financial support for their children (Lieberman, 2014). According to Dorlisa and Shandler (2011) “Teenage pregnancy and childbearing are social concerns because of economic and social cost” (p. 241). In United States, on average every teen mom age 17 and under costs taxpayers $4,080 yearly (Dorlisa and Shandler, 2011). Also, majority of teen mothers are under-paid; they earn $6,500 yearly making them dependent on public assistance (Dorlisa & Shandler, 2011). Pregnancy brings more financial troubles for teenagers; the cost of caring for a baby is extremely high. They are obligated to rely on their parents for financial support. Teenage pregnancy negatively impacts family and society. There is a strong correlation between teenage pregnancy and high school drop- out rates (Gyan, 2014). The relationship between education and early childbearing goes in both directions; pregnant teenagers are most likely to drop-out school, young girls who drop-out school are more prone to become pregnant (Gyan, 2013). Teenage pregnancy is a big concern for parents. Most teen mothers fail to earn a high school diploma; their educational achievement is very poor. Early parenthood is the leading cause of