Is teenage pregnancy actually a bad thing?

[Apple1996]

🤰👶🤰👶🤰👶🤰👶🤰👶🤰👶🤰👶🤰👶🤰👶🤰

If y'all didn't know i was pregnant at 17 so obviously i have my own opinions based on my experience so I'm interested in what others think about the topic.

What is your opinion on teen pregnancy? Is it really that bad?

[Lliam]

First, who pays the bills? Obviously a teen ager isn't financially secure. Raising and caring for a child is very expensive.

Second, a teen ager has no life experience. They are not mentally or emotionally mature.

It's true that young women have an easier time with pregnancy and child birth than do older women. In earlier times, women got married at an early age. But there were a few different possible scenarios. They either:
- Married an older man who was financially secure but often (not always) treated her like a servant and baby maker. After all, women had no legal rights.
- Fell in love with and married a young man from her own class, then lived in squalor, worked her ass off and became old before her time. There were no social safety nets.
- Married a younger man and moved in with parents who could help to raise the child. People often lived in multi-generational households where the children could benefit from different strengths of three generations.

But few people live like that anymore. We don't live in a village.
These days, I think it is selfish and irresponsible for a teen girl to get pregnant and depend on her parents for financial support. Doing so demonstrates her immaturity in only thinking of herself.

Having a father - a male role model - is very beneficial to a child's healthy development.

Aside from finances, who is going to care for the child while the girl goes to school and work? It doesn't make sense.

It's extremely unfair to saddle parents with a new baby to raise after they've already raised their own. They're not grandparents, at that point, they are forced to be parents all over again. At a time when they should be thinking about enjoying life after their own children leave the nest, they are stuck with more responsibility and financial drain that they didn't ask for.

[Apple1996]

The baby daddy pays the bills duh😂 but really tho in my case I ended up living with my inlaws for a year but that was no big deal for them considering I babysat their younger kids and cleaned everything in their house. They never gave us money since my husband already had a small job making like 400 a week. After that year he graduated and joined the army and obviously money after then wasn't a issue. I guess I got lucky and was able to live with them. My own parents became unsupportive after I had my son so couldnt depend on them for shit.

[Lliam]

I'm really glad it worked out for you, Apple. Sounds like your life worked out for the best. :-) I guess my comment focused on one scenario.

[Apple1996]

Yeah there are a lot of girls that end up in bad situations tho so it's probably best for most girls to avoid getting pregnant young

[NYCQuestions1976]

It really depends on the teenager (s) in question. Are they mature? Responsible? Have somewhat of a stable financial plan? Is the new mom going at it together with the father or alone? Is there family support or at least understanding? Any sort of substance abuse? Underlying health issues? There are many factors to consider.

Having interacted with you on here over the years, I know you are definitely a success story and a good parent (married, raising two kids, everyone doing well). However and unfortunately, I don't believe your path is common when it comes to the majority of teen pregnancies.

[Butterflies1995]

Teenage girls never got pregnant at the time when you were in high school that never happen.

[NYCQuestions1976]

@Butterflies1995 It happened a few times when I was in high school. One of them was a friend of mine. He had a baby with his girlfriend at the time. They were both 17.

[Butterflies1995]

Really how old is the kid now?

[NYCQuestions1976]

@Butterflies1995 He's 27.

[NYCQuestions1976]

Thanks for Most Helpful. 👍

[Princessflowers33]

NYCQuestions1976 Can you please give me his phone number and address? Where does this 27 year old guy live? Will he be interested in young girls like me?

[Princessflowers33]

NYCQUESTIONS1976 I got rejected by my ex manager I only want to date man in they're late 20s so please can you give me your friends 27 year old son phone number?

[NYCQuestions1976]

@Princessflowers33 He's already married.

[Princessflowers33]

NYCQuestions1976 How old is his wife?

[Princessflowers33]

NYCQuestions1976 Does this 27 year old have blue eyes blonde hair?

[Xoxocutekitty]

If both parties are committed to not just "making it work" but genuinely modeling cooperative parenting, creating a family, and showing respect, love, and affection, then yes it can be a beautiful thing. I think however, so many young kids are 1) not both emotionally developed enough to choose selflessness for their child and their co-parent 2) still feel entitled to "youth" or going out, seeking adventure, making mistakes and being selfish.

I am a firm believer in age doesn't really convey maturity or true love, but in most cases, teenagers are in many ways, still kids themselves. Their families meddle too much, and the teenagers are not equipped on the life skills (living on their own, cooking regularly, paying bills, checking in and communicating with a romantic partner) to then be able to take on the responsibility and stress of a child. I think it can be done, but I think both parties really need to be in a place where they embrace a new lifestyle (without resenting the one they lost).

I think teenage pregnancy where one partner ditches is "bad" because it affects the economic opportunity of the other parent to the point she probably HAS to find someone else to help out. Parenting requires a village and the liklihood of one party calling it quits or being more of a burden (than helping co-parent) is much much higher than the odds of the ideal, age doesn't matter, all young people can embark on this higher level of responsibility.

[Orange_moi]

Any pregnancy's bad if you didn't planned it or you're not financially capable of taking care of a baby.
For some women, babies are their goal of life. For others its their careers, for other's its fame. I don't judge that but the important thing's that you're responsible for your actions.
If you want to have a baby and you're a teenager, follow your dreams but don't make your parents or anyone else takes the responsibility of that.
Don't have a baby just for you, that's selfish and immature. Think of him/her and what it really is having one.
That's the reason why teenage pregnancy most of the time is pretty bad, because most of the teenagers are immature and that's okay cause they're teenagres. It's just natural.
However, there are some adults like that too.
Age doesn't mean mature, but you can have a difference porcentage of mature people inside the aduls group than the teenagers group.

[ShutUpYalem]

Exactly this 👏

[potatoiswhoiam]

Depends but generally I think it's not a good idea, because your body is still at the stage of development in your teens, and not being fully mature physically is not really great for pregnancy or for you. Also, teens tend to be more immature as well, not all are ready to take the responsibility of parenthood even if they think they are.
I'm glad you had a positive experience, there are definitely some teens that are mature enough to know what they're getting themselves into.. but that's rare.

[Espresso-Grande]

Not if she can fully support her baby. Or has a network of people to help her out , because she'll still need to go to college or school.

It's only a bad thing if she has the baby and puts it up for adoption. Or if she isn't fully capable of caring for her baby

[aWes0MeNeSs]

I think that while obviously it can all work out and there are always exceptions to the rule, in most cases, teenagers are not well prepared to raise children. They are usually not mature enough, don't have the life experience, finances, established career, stable relationship, etc.

Unfortunately, the majority of teenage relationships don't last and there's a higher chance of one of the parents being absent. It is also much harder to go to school, build a career, etc. with a baby or child, especially if you're a single parent.

Even if it sometimes works out, I definitely think that in most cases, it's worth it to wait.

[Brainsbeforebeauty]

That would depend on the teenager involved and the situation... Is it a good idea to have a baby at that age? No... But is there people that have had that happen and dealt with it and overcame and became great parents, yes!! My niece got pregnant at 15... She's now almost 30 with two kids, a great step dad for her two children, a good job and her own home... Is that always the case tho, no... Again depends on the situation and people involved cuz there's GOOD and BAD parents and age/race has less to do with it than the "people themselves"

[IronLady6354]

I do think that it's a bad thing. I would not encourage any teen girls to get pregnant at their age. However, if they're already pregnant it is possible for them to turn a negative into a positive. They can still be great moms, graduate college, have good careers, have a good stable family, etc. It's just that it's going to be a lot harder for them and it's probably going to take a lot of family help.

[VIVANT]

Depending on the culture and support system or maturity morel
fover of the couple end of there even IS a couple — it can be good or terrible. Really depends. It’s ideal physiologically.

[1Anon]

It’s not a bad thing; you just have to know what you want for your life and realize that you’re now responsible for someone else. A lot of teenage mothers tend not to have a solid support network of people who would help them with everything and that’s what makes it really hard. My former best friend had a baby when she was 17 (I think she just turned 18 at the time of birth) and her parents were not supportive at all! She was way beyond the point of an abortion so she had to keep it and her parents were awful, actually horrendous about it all. She and I worked full time whilst I was at college then university and each of us within our friend circle would take it in turns to babysit him and buy supplies. We helped her to move into her own house because it was unbearable for her to remain at her parents’ house. She never regretted it but I know she struggled so much and there was only so much she and we could do. I’m still his godmother but we all lost touch after she and I had a disagreement.

[Red-Blaze]

I think its too early, I think for most people its impotent to get more life experience before they have a baby that will grow based on the experience of the mothers life

[ragequeen]

In today's society it's hard to survive being young and pregnant. Biologically, women are capable of carrying children once they get their periods. But it's all about the environment and type of society you live in. In modern times you have to educate yourself and make enough money to support yourself, let alone a child. More and more people decide to not have children because it's so expensive. Before, it was a source of income. So if you're young and pregnant today, it will be tough. Not to mention the fact that you practically lost your youth and the opportunity to be free and selfish (which is, in my opinion, the best time of someone's life)

[cheapshotbob]

i think it bad because girls who get pregnant have no self moral codes to protect them from the mistakes that are made. i know it takes 2 to make a baby but the girl has to have the brains to say no and not give in to some overly used notion that peer pressure made them do it.

yeah i seen it when i was your age but your the next generation you should learn from our mistakes not make them worse which is what is going on.

[Apple1996]

Eh life is about making mistakes. Being a parent I've realized that everyone needs to make those for themselves so they can learn. Learning from previous generations isn't the right answer in my opinion

[cheapshotbob]

maybe so but if some of what we did and taught the next generation , girls would be smarter and everyone would have a thicker skin when it came t insults etc. i admire yur stick to it attude but it takes a lot to learn what the older generation learned. it just seems like kids today are struggling more than they need to.

[Apple1996]

Yeah true. And its cause kids now days just have iPads that teach them everything. 😂😂 There is no effort to learn like there use to be. Learning from previous generations isn't a thing anymore since they can just google any question they have

[NewtoTheSouth]

But you need to limit the mistakes you make in life, for your own good. Yes, we all make mistakes, but we should also try to limit them, whatever they are.

[cheapshotbob]

thats true lol even i hate to admit it but i think things are so easy today but there are time i wish the internet would have never came out but thats because i know what life was like before the internet. you should have been around when it first came out. so many people laughed about it and bill gates was the punch line of every joke. even the local news stations took pot shoots at bill XD. im telling you if i had known how big it would have been i would have took those stock options i heard about when apple became a company but i didn't lol

[cheapshotbob]

@NewtoTheSouth i agree it needs to be picked up on that we need improvements but it seems to be at a stand still.

[Apple1996]

@NewtoTheSouth I have to disagree. When i look back on my life all my biggest mistakes ended up being the best things in my life so it's really all positive in my eyes

[Apple1996]

@cheapshotbob Life before the internet must have been interesting. I would have liked to experience it but then again the internet is great so can't hate on it

[cheapshotbob]

i can lol but i dont because it is useful and there are something i could nt have figured out without the help of the internet , you know other people to talk to about problems i myself could not fix

[NewtoTheSouth]

Just because your past mistakes have actually turned out beneficial for you doesn't mean that teens having kids isn't a bad thing.

[Apple1996]

@NewtoTheSouth yeah not saying that. Just that mistakes are suppose to be made and turned into something beautiful and not to be something negative that we regret. Not only pregnancy but with all mistakes

[ThomasTKay]

No. Things just happen at times. For many, it might not be a good thing and I wouldn't recommend it as a matter of practice in society. But it happened to some and they shouldn't be shamed for it but rather, my hat is off to them for keeping their precious child and willing to be selfless enough to sacrifice to ensure that this precious new baby is loved and has everything necessary for growing up comfortable. A young lady and perhaps immature girl becomes an experienced and mature woman when she becomes a mom. What moms do is nothing short of hero status.

[matchrestore]

I think there are people who can handle it, and from what I've heard from you you seem to be in that group. Unfortunately the vast majority of teen parents are not in that group.

[fall_angel-86]

Generally speaking in my opinion a teen is to young to have kids... we need to grow up before making that leap, however there are some teen moms who rock it and do exceptionally well

[KeziL]

It's not bad in itself, it's just that teens aren't usually ready to support themselves, a baby, a family these days. They might not be entirely ready to settle down and raise their child, but they are capable of doing it.

[Warmapplecrumble]

No I don't think it's bad as long you have necessary resources for the baby and a father a long side with you. I really think it's important for the father to be there for the baby as well as the mother. Just my opinion.

[LovingLover]

For many girls yes. They want to enjoy freedom... and pursue goals...

For also those with unhealthy environment like emotional and financial instability... as we are breeding Angels and monsters whether we like it or not

[Dazed0N0Confused]

As someone who doesn't have kids at 24, I am happy that I didn't get pregnant early. I was still trying to figure my life out and I couldn't do that with a child, my life would've been put on hold so I could raise a child when I was still a child myself. I have plenty of friends who got pregnant during high school and right after, and I found that most were leaving their kids with the grandparents so they could go party and "not give up their youth". This of course pissed me off, because your child is everything now regardless, yes, go out a few times and relax, but their parents were raising their grandchildren which is NOT okay.
While there were very few that I know that are AMAZING parents, super smart, all about their kids, most were neglectful and uninvolved in their child's life.
While I frown upon teen pregnancy, it isn't my life, but as long as you put your child first, you raise that child, you do your damnedest to be a great parent, I support your decision to have a child.

[FreyaRed]

Biologically it's not bad for the health of child, psychologically, emotionally and financially it's a disaster for a couple or mother.

[Cherokeehp]

It’s not the worst thing in the world, but teenagers are just kids. It’s not ideal for kids to be raising kids of their own. I’m sure there are some teens mature enough to handle it, but many teens aren’t emotionally ready, or don’t have the financial stability to raise a child, or just aren’t prepared to be a parent in general. And it’s just an added obstacle in your own growth into adult hood. Growing up is a lot. Teenagers are supposed to be focused on school and stuff like that. A lot of teen parents have to give up or postpone their own dreams and goals to look after their child. There are some teen moms whose lives turn out perfectly fine. And there are some whose lives get completely derailed by getting pregnant too soon.

[Tamera952]

YEAh, it actually is. Generally yes. The younger the mom, the more potential issues arise.