Teen Pregnancy is a serious topic that is very common in our world today. About every, “3 in 10 American girls will get pregnant at least once before age [of] 20. That’s nearly 750,000 teen pregnancies every year,” (Kathryn Kost, Stanley Henshaw. U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions).  That is only America; imagine how many teenage girls get pregnant throughout the whole world. Teenagers are at higher risk to get pregnant earlier if they do not have good communications with their parents. “Teens who are not reaching the expected grade levels, school achievements, or drop out of school are 2 to 5 times more likely to have a child,” (Auriana Ojeda). If teens cannot keep up with their school, or get bad grades, how are they supposed to take care of an actual human being? Teens may not understand that taking care of a child is very difficult, time consuming, and very expensive. Many people do not see the reality that babies born to teenage mothers can also be at risk to have disorders or illness. The teens themselves also have a higher risk to go through many medical issues and emotional obstacles. The fact itself is teens are not fully matured, and should not have to take care of a child, especially if they can barely take care of themselves.

To begin, teenagers are at higher risk to deal with medical and emotional issues during pregnancy. Teens must make sure that they go to the doctor and they are healthy, if they do not take care of themselves, the baby is in danger to have disorders or a miscarriage may even occur. During teen pregnancy, teens are at a higher risk to have high blood pressure. High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, makes the heart work harder than normal.  Hypertension increases risk of strokes, and heart attacks. Because of this, teens are also at greater risk of preeclampsia; “preeclampsia combines high blood pressure with excess protein in urine. Having preeclampsia swells the hands and face of the person, and damages their organs,” (Kecia Gaither). The teens also may not be able to have a normal labor because the, “Pelvic bones do not reach their maximum size until about the age of 18; therefore, the pelvis of the teenage mother may not have grown enough to allow vaginal delivery of a normal-size baby,” (Elizabeth Eden). Teens might also be diagnosed with depression during their time of pregnancy because they feel isolated when they don’t have their family’s support or the father’s support. When feeling depressed, teens may change their eating habits, and not want to take care of the baby. The teen may also be stressed and depressed after child delivery. 

Babies born to teenage mothers are at risk also, they may suffer through illnesses if the mother doesn’t take care of her health, and visit the doctor frequently. Teen mothers are more likely to have given birth to a baby with a low birth weight. This doubles the chance that the baby will have a disability. Also, the baby is in jeopardy to be born premature, (a baby who is born earlier than 37 weeks). “The earlier a baby is born the higher chance for the child to have respiratory, digestive, vision, cognitive, problems, and many more,” ( Kecia Gaither).

In addition, the future of the child and their mother are not the same as the normal person.  “Only 36% of teen mothers report daily contact with the father by the time the child is of one month old,” (Pamela Mcdowell, 32).  Families also may not support the teen after getting pregnant. The teen has to raise the child on their own, which puts a lot of pressure on the mother, and makes it difficult for them to properly raise the child. 

“More than 50% of teen mothers never graduate from their high school. And less than 2% of teen moms earn a college degree by age 30,” (Dosomething.org). Not having a high school or college degree creates complex situations for people to get a job. This is why many people live in poverty, especially mothers who had a child in their teen years. When living in poverty, it affects the child as well. Children have little chance to be active and have a life to live. Many children who grow up poor may see a small future for them and believe they will be poor forever, making them not want to try in school or life. Children born to teenagers are likely to feel child neglect and even child abuse. “Studies show that sons of teen mothers are thirteen percent more likely to be put in jail,”Auriana Ojeda). Teens do not understand the things in life, because they haven’t experienced a lot of things themselves. So how are they supposed to teach their children values of life?

Adolescent pregnancy is wrong, but many people do not believe it is. Teens do not have the resources to take care of a child. They put the baby and themselves at higher risks to medical and emotional problems during pregnancy than a normal pregnancy. Teens need to receive an education and get jobs. Teenagers should not spend their time raising a child considering they aren’t full adults themselves. They have not experienced the full thrill of life. Responsibility is a very important quality that a mother needs, but teenagers who have children at a young age do not seem to have this quality to raise a child. Babies need a lot of nurturing and are very dependent on their mother to take care of them. Teens are putting themselves in danger while becoming pregnant. The reality is teen pregnancy is a serious topic that is hard to overcome and may never be changed.