The other day, wandering through Facebook, I saw a photo of a 10-year-old girl with a little baby bump that read: I Love My Baby. Honestly, it was shocking—after all, she is even younger than my eldest daughter and just a bit older than my middle child. Some will say it was immaturity, others will say it was the heat of the moment, many say it was carelessness, others say it was irresponsibility, but what is the real reason so many very young girls, some barely entering adolescence, end up pregnant? The truth is I have been seeing pregnant girls at younger and younger ages.
Information is everywhere, just turn on the TV, go online, there are talks in schools and support groups for youth from the public health service (SUS) and also through churches, so we can’t say the reason for so many teen pregnancy testimonials is a lack of information. That’s why sharing ideas is so helpful.
Of course, pregnancy in maturity, with a stable couple, is much better and everyone wants a better life. But very often that is not how it happens, and teenage pregnancy can happen1. There are also cases where a girl at 12 or 14 who gives a teenage pregnancy testimonial is badly judged, looked at with pity, or seen as “easy.”
But you know, the chain always breaks on the weakest link: the woman carries the child, and a child is forever. But in my opinion, a baby is made by a couple and both sides must be educated. It is also the responsibility of boys’ parents to give sexual guidance so that these accidents don’t happen. Not that a pregnancy is something bad, but that’s not the point—the issue goes much deeper.
Even so, the rate of teenage pregnancy testimonials has greatly increased and new cases arise every day. In some regions far from big cities, it’s still very common to see very young girls, teenagers, already mothers or still pregnant, but it’s come to be seen as something “normal,” as everyday triviality, and we really get used to seeing and living with it because the frequency is incredibly high2.
But after all, whose fault is it? What can be done at this moment of shock for the parents, and for the couple—or in many cases, just the girl who finds herself pregnant and alone? It’s not uncommon for, after the pregnancy, promises of love are broken and that love that was infinite becomes a nightmare with a consequence that was neither imagined nor planned: the arrival of a child!
Imagine the mind of an 11-year-old girl, whom we will soon meet in a feature by Globo’s Profissão Repórter. Yes, 11 years old and pregnant, because she thought that having a baby at that age would be cool.
Are the parents to blame for not giving enough guidance, for not talking openly about sex? Was it the boy who pushed for it? The girl who thought it wouldn’t happen to her? The group of friends encouraging early sex, the government, or the schools?
You can’t pin down a single culprit or reason for why this keeps happening, even with so much information available in the media, schools, churches, etc. But talking at home is fundamental and super important to help young people with sexual maturity3.
It’s a difficult subject, way too controversial for just one opinion. So let’s look at some teenage pregnancy testimonials, from discovering the pregnancy to a news story with real cases that could have happened in anyone’s home—even with all the information in the world, the risk is there! What’s your opinion on this topic? Do you have a teenage pregnancy story to share? Contact me at [email protected] or leave a comment.
Profissão Repórter
Vanguarda Mix
Bruna Aguiar YT Channel
Documentary Girls
Maria Elisa
