Iowa Students Look at; 105; Teen Pregnancy

The following is a rebroadcast of a program that was originally presented live on February 6th 1989. Major funding for the following program was provided by friends of Iowa Public Television. Live from the studios of Iowa Public Television. I was doing a look at. Here is your host Peter w. O love the program today we'll deal with a topic that just affects girls teen pregnancy. You think that's right using two birds and only affects girls now you don't know. Just like somebody else. Yeah the person I got the boy. Right. What do you think the same thing. Yeah boys definitely involved. OK well. You're right you passed the quiz you're correct. The problem is not just. Indigenous to girls. Guys

share in the responsibility and that's just what we're going to talk about today. The responsibility. Of having sex and unprotected sex the unwanted pregnancy is a lot of times not the only problem that comes up from having unprotected sex. Nationally more than 4 out of 10 young ladies will become pregnant before they're 20. Now that's a problem a problem that can significantly if significantly there's a 50 cent war for in effect young people's futures. I want to begin our program we're going to hear the first of these three readings written by Elisa Snyder for Davenport West High School. She writes for a paper there and the paper have a copy here called the beacon eye. And she received a journalism award for excellence from the Iowa Department of Health. For the articles that she wrote the three articles and other stories in the articles the names have been changed. And we edit him a little bit for TV. And here's Gloria Jordan from the

morning. Hoover High School reading Cindy's story. When I found out that I was pregnant I was so scared when the doctor actually said I was pregnant. I was stunned. My parents would have killed me if they would ever found out my dad especially he would have kicked me out of the house. After a lot of serious thinking I decided to get an abortion. I was only 16 and a sophomore in high school. I wasn't prepared to be a mother. When I first told my boyfriend that I was pregnant. He wanted to get married and have the baby. It took some talking to convince my boyfriend Chad. Getting an abortion was what I really wanted to do. The only other person that knew was my best friend. I don't think she really agreed to what I wanted to do but like Chad she was behind me 100 percent. For days before I had the abortion I cried and cried. I had to keep convincing myself that it wasn't a real baby yet that it was just this thing forming not a little baby.

I don't think I ever actually convinced myself of that. In fact I know I didn't I didn't want to have it done anywhere in town so chats on the place was far enough away that nobody knew either Chad Nor I. Chad drove me to the clinic. On our way there I felt like I was in a nightmare except I couldn't wake up and they could all be gone. The scariest part of the whole ordeal was waiting. I felt so guilty. Questions kept racing through my head like am I going. Am i always going to feel this guilty. And by doing the right thing. I still have nightmares about the whole thing. Abortion for me didn't end with the operation. I have the guilt regret and confusion to last all of my life. I will always be thinking what a contribution to society that child could have been. I just hope that nobody has to go through what I did. A night of pleasure isn't worth a lifetime of anguish. Thank you.

On our program today we will answer questions about teen pregnancy from our studio audience and from a school call in centers from around the state. Here to help answer these questions we've assembled a panel of experts. Tom. Said an administrator from the kernel health center in Davenport Sharon wrote Dean the director of the National Organization on adolescent pregnancy and parenting. In the Washington D.C.. Mike Ambrose and Samantha Kelly two adolescent parents. Let's begin with a question from our studio audience. OK I've heard about the percentage of. Parents who haven't succeeded in life but what about the parents who did graduate from high school and he did get a well-paying job and yet still kept the role of a successful parent. And I think. There are indeed a number of people who do overcome pregnancy. I've been in this business for about 16 years now

and. Working with a family planning clinic in the Quad Cities it's very obvious to me that birth. That unplanned pregnancies are a frightening experience. I'm absolutely convinced however that drugs are much worse situation and frankly the majority of young people coming to our clinic who are who are pregnant do indeed. Go through the pregnancy and within four to five years. They're conducting a normal sort of life that most of us want for our families. And there are some real success stories out there and lots of times when you have a young person that makes it through parenting early parenting makes it through school gets a good job. On down the line may enter into a real secure marriage situation all of that. They've had a lot of help along the way. They have a family. Most cases if they've succeeded they've had a

family support system that's been there people that have jumped in and helped them. They have had families or teachers or counselors or pastors or somebody that helped them along the way that encouraged them to complete school to help them stay in school help them put the pieces together they needed childcare and all of that kind of thing so that they really could finish their education get a job and become a self-supporting person and get the parenting and nurturing skills along the way. It is hard to be a parent even when you start as late as I did my first child around 30. It's hard. It's emotionally draining to get up to go to work to do all these things. And I had a car and I had money in the bank where I could write a check for babysitters to do that. At 16 is really tough. But there are some good stories out there. So it's not totally bleak. Can be done. Also joining our studio audience are eight foreign centers from around the state. These schools were selected according to their size and they represent. I was education system which I go first call from Kourou upwards Bayard Glidden Rolston schools go ahead. Yes yes yes. I want to address that. They're ready. How do you feel about

the fact that a. Catholic community and how do you get parents to understand. How to get parents understand how to get parents to understand I should probably give this right to Tom since you know. In the Catholic community Catholic community or any community I get calls from all over the country I don't care if they're in Seattle Washington or Bangor Maine or Cut and Shoot Texas and there is such a down. People say we live in the most conservative community there is and therefore how do we even deal with this issue. What you've got to do is I think as young people first of all let adults know that this is a serious topic that you are growing up and almost grown up folks and you need information and you need to deal with this issue. And then find the appropriate settings that you can provide programs where programs can be offered where you can get the information you're going to have. You have health clinics you have the same cast of characters in all communities. You have your school settings you have counselors you have school nurses who can be helpful with information. You

have health clinics and health centers. Great. They usually have great educational programs for you. You got social service agencies Girls Clubs boys clubs YWCA ways other types of groups that are available social service people. Lots of folks there as pastors counselors that can help you help educate your community. A lot of it just gets back to basic awareness of the issues. But you're going to have to be the advocates for this because believe me the adults it takes them a long time to want to be advocates on this issue. We have a AUDIENCE QUESTION Yes go ahead. How many girls can afford to keep their child whether they can or not. How many girls can get abortions. One of the yearly national statistics for the who keep. Who does that. What are the yearly national statistics for the girls who actually keep their abode. Depending upon what study you look at approximately 35 to 45 percent of adolescents will terminate pregnancies in terms of the general female population. Approximately 25 percent of all women.

Terminate pregnancies in this country. And then did the rest of the the other side of that is either keep up for adoption. Yes one of the one of the interesting your pieces of information. Is in 1960 approximately 95 percent of all women. Who raised their kept their pregnancy kept their child to raise that child at 1060 by 1980. That figure had flip flopped only 4 percent. Of women and one thousand one thousand eighty are placing their children for adoption. Adoptions as you probably are aware of are very very difficult. There's about a 5 year average waiting time. So adoption is something that we need to focus on now in Iowa throughout this country. We need to make adoption much much more positive experience for people we have to support and we need to encourage it. Because because the parent killing of the child kills a sense of guilt and whatever.

Yeah I think that the the giving up is that there's a sense of loss there there's a sense of guilt. I also think though that we have a social system in place which young people nowadays are able to obtain support such as food stamps such as the wick program such as medical care housing assistance. There is a plus or are programs available which would allow a 15 or 18 year old woman to raise this child. Unfortunately. When you look at the data on that many of those people who get involved with that system of support never get out of it. And that Atchison the woman who asked the first question this morning about the kids and the positive experiences. There are good but there are many positive experiences but you have to also remember that approximately 50 percent of all teenagers have become pregnant. At age 50 and will become pregnant again before they're age 18. And those. Those

each of those pregnancies make the task of succeeding in life that much more difficult. We have a phone question for John F. Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids go ahead phone. I feel like we're in for a total population. OK. You want to get involved in a young mother's program. There are all kinds of programs so it's hard to put a percentage figure on that there is. Which one is going to help. Which ones to handle by themselves and would go to help whether there are all different kinds of programs which will have school programs or you may have teen parent support programs through a social service agency or you may have a particular type of program and a health clinic or something like that. For the size of the problem. There are there's a it's a smaller percentage. Very few schools overall have a real comprehensive program to help pregnant parroting students moms and dads get on through school there are some states that don't even have one childcare program associated with their school to help teen parents. We've got a real big

void out there as far as some coordinated comprehensive programming responses to these issues. It's piecemeal here and there and it varies from state to state and the funding and all funding is not been drying up. Lots of places at different levels for things you told me you figure earlier about the funding will go to the numbers. The yearly figures for the funding. Well. I indicated only in terms of family planning to you Peter that in 1979. The US government committed approximately one hundred sixty three million dollars to to the national family planning program. That was a nineteen thousand nine hundred seventy nine. Now ten years later in 1999 we're getting about one hundred thirty eight million dollars. And if you factor in the inflation that represents about a 65 percent decrease of support for the national family planning programs. Now. I also want to point out that there have been a number of demonstration projects throughout Iowa that have been established in the last two to three years.

So I would apart from the public education I would a part of the Human Services Department of Public Health have all been involved with some smaller unique demonstration projects. Unfortunately it appears that the money may dry up for some of those programs. So if you're out there you want to contact your legislators and encourage those people to continue supporting these one year into your demonstration projects because one year or two years is not a sufficient amount of time to determine how effective these programs are. But certainly certainly in Iowa there's an effort underway to make a more coordinated approach to. Helping you know we have AUDIENCE QUESTION Yes go ahead. If the student enters the mother does not want to she still wants to keep the baby but does not want to go to school. Is there a place where she can go. Sure she does but doesn't want to go to school maybe wants to get. A GED or something the graduate equivalent as opposed to going back in the regular school system.

It varies from community to community in Davenport's or in Marshalltown. They have teenage parent programs where you have more of an alternative school setting that provides the basic academic information the young people need to graduate as well as all the other supplemental types of things they need in terms of parenting childcare nutrition and that type of thing. But again given the number of school systems in the country or the number of school systems even in your state the number of schools that actually have those comprehensive coordinated programs focused on the specific needs of student aged parents is very very few and far between. Only in a few states California Michigan and a few other states they really have any kind of funding and focus behind that. It's just. A few and far between. So the. Question that evil Senior High School. Pregnant teenagers is are the children having health. What do you what percent of the teenage pregnancies do end up in a health problem.

Did you know the statistics you have approximately are among among women aged 16 and 16 and under. They have a two to three two to three times greater frequency of having problems at delivery. In addition to that teenagers. Well I have approximately about a 25 percent greater chance of being under or having under underweight births underweight babies and underweight. Babies as a major medical problem this country. When you gave birth and you gave birth. Did you have any complications with her. Yeah Matthew went through fetal distress. And they had to take. It was he said about you when you knew your girlfriend she had a regular. There were no complications no really shoot shoes and labor for 13 hours they didn't know for sure if they were going to have to do c section but she had it

for you so that some work out you were and you said you lived for 16 and then they gave you. Yeah I know a lot of mothers out there can appreciate having to go through 16 hours of labor in their standard U.S. station. What's with us with teenage pregnancies too and teen deliveries. It's more than just the problems at delivery large percentages of teen gals don't get any kind of prenatal care or get prenatal care very late. They're denying often that they're pregnant right at first so they're still stuffing their body into the bluejeans and eating there. Daily quote of grease at the fast food places and all of that kind of thing aren't seeing a doctor aren't getting the medical supplements they need and all kinds of things like that so as the baby is growing and developing in very critical times they may be getting very poor nutrition very poor prenatal care and that's been a big problem overall. There have been places communities across the country have really looked at their county hospitals to see the number of babies in the intensive care areas that had severe problems. Fort Worth Texas when we looked at that one a few years

ago they found that over half the babies in intensive care were babies of teen moms. Who throughout the pregnancy just did not have the information or the support to get adequate prenatal care. So there were complications afterwards. We have a AUDIENCE QUESTION Is Go ahead. My question is directed to Mike. What was going through your mind when you found out your girlfriend was pregnant. I was surprised. You know I really didn't know what to think. It was a great shock. I didn't you know. I was happy and confused both same time. It's kind of like a movie. Yeah just like a movie. OK. We have we did the readings before we have a second reading presentation that was written by Elisa Snyder. And it's titled. Can you tell me what to do you know what it's called Molly's story. And it's and it's read by and resit from Hoover High School here in Des Moines. When I first thought I might be pregnant.

I kept telling myself no I'm not pregnant. I finally face the fact that I was pregnant by telling Ben the father of the baby. He didn't know what to say. Then took me to maternal health to get a pregnancy test the next week. The doctor told me I was three and a half months pregnant. He asked me what I wanted to do knowing for sure that I was pregnant made me scared but angry at myself as well. I told the doctor I wanted abortion I wanted the baby out of my life as soon as possible. Three weeks later. Ben decided to leave me for another girl. I was still pregnant. It was too late to get an abortion so I decided to tell my parents. My parents never really approved a ban. They really got mad when I told them. I've never seen my dad get so angry. I thought for sure he was going to have a heart failure right then and there but after the initial shock. They tried to be understanding. That's when I decided to keep it. They did all they could to try to convince me to give it up for adoption. They even told my brother to come home and talk me out of keeping the

baby. I soon decided that it would be for the best to give the baby up for adoption. The pregnancy and delivery went well. In the hospital a lot of tears were cried over the little boy that I was giving up. But I kept thinking that in the long run both he and I would be better. To this day not a single day goes by when I don't think about my son time Timothy John. Every day I think about him. I wonder what he looks like or how he plays. But most of all I think about what it be like if you were here right now with me. But. For right now the future has a lot in store for me. OK a couple of different views on teen pregnancy. We have an audience question. I think there we go. Yes. If you become pregnant and then you tell your parents and they turn against you or they are or they pretend you don't exist then what do you do.

We talk about during the pregnancy. Yeah. What. Sure sure. It's rough for parents to find out I'm sure this is like tied into the Catholic question. Well parents will just show in the new one and they want to do with a car problem. That's right. It's hard for parents to deal with sexuality issues anyway with their kids regardless of the age you just. It's not something that comes easily off of the tip of your tongue in a normal dinnertime conversation and it's something more personal and private and intimate as a part of your being. So. Parents have trouble dealing with that they have trouble thinking that their child could be involved in anything like this. And the fact that they would be pregnant just they don't know how to deal with it and so there is anger there would be frustration hopefully with a little time they'll come around and be become part of the support network you need. But if the family turns you off or pushes you out which happens sometimes you really need to find a

support network out there someplace. It may be friends it may be counselors at school it may be a local social service agency group it may be a support system some place but you'll need to find a support system because you're going to need friends you're going to have people you can talk with. You need to arrange all the kinds of things that anybody needs to arrange when they're pregnant some counseling some some prenatal care. Making your plans for the baby if you're going to keep the baby what you're going to do to pay for the baby. All of that. You really are going to have to do some talking to you can find folks you trust folks that are willing to help you and build your network. So parents always are in the mood to gum a community comes to mind is a scene from Terms of Endearment when she says mom I'm pregnant. Are you happy in the most is why should I be happy about. That. See right there there's a lot a lot of times of parents you know natural oh sort of confused reaction and they may have a life script written for you in their mind you're going to do this and you're going to finish that and you're going on to college and you're going to and it you've totally blown their life script

for you. And it's just a lot for them to deal with. And so be patient with them talk with them that's the best you can do at that point is just kind of continue to communicate your feelings. So it's OK to go elsewhere for help we have a little phone call question from Boyd in Hall High School. Go ahead. What are the dangers of getting pregnant. Church early church and every change. Have a higher chance of not finishing school which leads to a life that probably has a higher chance of unemployment or under employment right. As Tom was talking about earlier a higher chance of medical problems medical complications you'll have often a better chance to have a life that's that's one of welfare dependency. And all kinds of things a lot of negative consequences due to the economics of the situation the lack of education completing your education the lack of economic opportunities on down the

line so there are some serious costs and consequences. There are some real serious cost consequences just emotionally as a person too. You have to grow up real fast as a parent. What did you do you're going to have a baby. Did you didn't stay in school. Would you do. I just. Want. That fell way behind. Did you fold when did you go to school. Yeah when I was living with my mom once hall turned to school. There When I moved to damp or. I'm getting my. Good. Mike you told me you were wrestling before. I had to go to alternative at the city high school you have to have five and a half credits to be a student. So. In order for me to be a student. And to work I had to go to alternative and you had to give give a brush in that you know how to get my priorities straight and it was my baby and

you know to finance. How did they put it to you had to take responsibility for your action isn't right the drain. Yeah and I you know I look at this way. Well we both brought a beautiful thing in a life and you know it's both our responsibilities and we have a phone question. Don Bosco high school in Gilbert Ville go ahead. Dan what I was expert at the Roe versus Wade decision the overturn in the Bush administration and how did that change. And I was. Shown the door for the the rates the actual rates. If the rovers would well first we should I think for anybody who doesn't know talk about what Roe vs. Wade is over this way it is the Supreme Court decision from 1973 that legalized abortion in this country. OK so if you were to legalize abortion how would it affect the rate of teenagers becoming pregnant. Well it's before the Suppose there's a case for Missouri before the Supreme Court right now which might impact this through which if the court decides to overturn its original

ruling. Could have any number of ramifications at this point some of which are unclear but. Possibly throwing it back where each state would have its own own particular law or laws that you may have a stake in to get him to go to another state. It's really hard to imagine what the scenario will be if it's overturned but certainly will be thrown back to the states and it will be wild in the state legislatures as they try to come up with their particular set of laws. So some of the other choices are. Back alley abortions right. What are the alternatives to an illegal abortion in our country. Part of the problem with just focusing on Roe versus Wade. Regardless of which side you want to call yourself on pro-choice or the right to life or whatever we categorize these into it's really looking at. A short. Term or short range response to the bigger issue dealing with abortion. I think the common ground on here is if we really want to get to a point where abortion does not have to be an option at all legal or illegal then we need to

come together and really focus on primary prevention giving kids hopeful healthy options access to contraception if they're going to be sexually active certainly encourage them not to be sexually active. If we can but to really look at the big picture of primary prevention making it a legal Roe versus Wade if it's overturned some states will make it illegal some will not some will have different criteria with it the people the reality is the women that can afford it will still get abortions. The people that will probably suffer the most if abortion is their option to choose would be teenagers would be poor women. People that don't have. Access to money or transportation or access to the network within their community to know how to. To. Choose that option and utilize that option so it's it's a difficult question. It's a difficult situation. There are no easy easy answers on that one. We may we may never know what audience question is with. What rights does. The. Father have. If the. Whites want to

have an abortion is there legislation on that. Tom. Currently there has been. A. Supreme Court. Ruling is neither States nor here in Iowa but the Supreme Court ruling in other states would impact here. Presently. A young woman who does become prey that has the right to make that determination alone. There have been some cases in which the father. Has attempted to intervene to stop the abortion but in almost all of the cases that I'm aware of the court has ruled that decision does rest with the woman. Does that answer your question. Yeah I think those what if they're married even in the even in the case of marriage Peter you know the woman has the right to make that determination. Well let's just we have a phone question. Williamsburg junior senior high school good phone. This is a quite fair yes. What was the hardest part about your pregnancy. Here's.

A start with Mike. Well this was the hardest part for you to overcome all this biggest hurdle. Giving up wrestling. You don't get to go to your friends a lot. You give that up. Financial problems your financial. Position was the biggest problem for you. That's not on everything my friends were going to the movies. I see literally good math you think. OK. I think I have an audience question. Somewhere. It says to Mike and Samantha how did you guys have a lot of trouble and explain to your parents on it you know Samantha when you were pregnant and then Mike when your girlfriend was pregnant. I was that it must have been. That must have been walking on glass rain. Yeah. It was hard. My mom was totally. But what do we expect the initial shock to happen. How did she how did she then go about did she help you or told me I had to give. Him up for adoption. But then.

Did she allow you to make the decision you wanted to yams as a while. How did your parents react when you told them that you had gotten good. I was more nervous telling her parents really than I was mine and. I was afraid of her dad. This is a side of Baghdad to you. And. Yeah that's that was my main concern her dad and you know my mom's real well understanding so I did. How did you do it did you get all of him all together. I wanted her to tell her dad separately and I was going to tell him I did come otherwise he didn't know me that it worked out all right the way it happened. She told her mom and luckily her dad was not there and she told him later on that night when we left. Sure. Come on down. There's a drink we have some bed we

got some surprising not necessarily bed OK we have a phone question. Senior High School Go ahead. Whatever sex education required. Tom the National I think the question was Why is sex education. Public not require more schools not require more schools. Well that's being addressed right now. The state legislature. Last spring passed a bill which requires. The Iowa up to four hundred and twelve or fourteen twenty five school districts to employ a mapped. Out curriculum and by the by the spring each school board each school district has to appoint a committee which designs this curriculum. And. We think that this curriculum overview of this curriculum design will be one major step in terms of trying to get all the school systems in Iowa to have a commitment to good family life education.

As you can well imagine there are certain elements in our it in our society which do not want to have these programs available. However the school board under the direction of the. With a part of the public construction beginning the spring the committee formation so each of you who are interested in that encourage your parents to get involved with that committee. Sit down with a committee and talk about what you want to do anything. This is the state of all of us mandated but nationally there are handful of states that have a mandatory sex education requirement. Now usually they can either come up with their own curriculum for a local school district or they can use what has been developed at the state level if they choose that option. Sometimes when we talk about sex education it really varies all over the board I mean it may be three hours in your ninth grade you know very quickly.

Right let's run right through this which I mean when you balance that with everything you see on TV and MTV and in the movies and everything it's not. And usually the kids if it said what ninth grade or something they go I mean really we need to this four five years ago so it's often too little too late or you get it in an innocuous form of studying how you dissect a frog and now we'll talk about male and female anatomy from a frog or something where they try to do it so it's comfortable for the teacher and the kids are going what is this I mean that's about what we got. That's right so. Not a lot of the sound of the schools are moving toward a more comprehensive program where it's kindergarten through 12th grade that it's age appropriate and you start off for the first four years with just a lot of basic stuff about self-esteem and decision making and peer pressure and those kinds of things that are in relationships not just the plumbing aspect about all situations. So Peter let me give you a piece of information that I think is very very informative and swigged. Kid a kindergarten level. Young people children

are introduced to actually the use of condoms. Yeah. There are just other methods of birth control the kindergarten level. Sweden has the lowest adolescent pregnancy rate in the world and what we found I'll be doing some right right. What we found out from the experience in Sweden is that they introduced us to the family life curriculum at a very very young age. And indeed the numbers are there to prove it. If you talk with people who come from Sweden they'll tell you. Young people grow up they're having a very healthy but a very unformed sense of responsibility for the human sexuality. Sweden also has one the lowest abortion rates in the world. So when people think of Sweden as being a permissive state that simply is the premise of a country that simply is not correct. They do they have the lowest adolescent pregnancy rate. One of the lower abortion rates in the world. And as England and France and other developed countries we are really pretty appalling for being the leader of the free world in our high tech contemporary society and we don't show breasts on television.

Well but like a lot of foreign countries the show they're comfortable with nude beaches in the regular budget and I don't have to do that Miles I don't know if there's been a study that you. Are obviously more comfortable about their sexuality than we much more comfortable much more informed. And a researcher from the University of Pennsylvania has tested these people young kids from about age five to six up to about age 50 and she tested him in Sweden Japan in the United States. And. Japan I have to I have to acknowledge was the most provincial. That's a there's a lot of strong family ties people feel very uncomfortable talking about sex. But then across the United States was wasn't quite as provincial as Japan. But. The most interesting thing was the results in Sweden are very convincing to me. So if you want sex education go to Sweden. We have an audience question yes go ahead. This is a question for Mike and Samantha. Do you ever like make you wish that your girlfriend had an

abortion or Samantha do you would you have wanted abortion. Do you regret and any decisions you made. You happy with the decision you know I'm happy. I'm happy to do it is Matthew here. Matthew will have to measure God too tired now. He's a beautiful kid take my word for it I'm going to go to a phone question Griswold senior high school yes god phone yet. Do you think teenagers should have access to birth control to crisis in the school. Deliver legislation on them. There are there's no legislation future in terms of having birth control information or. Birth control pills available after school. They're very clearly as. It's very clear that. Teenagers have access to birth control. They have access to birth control a model without the consent of their parents. I did administer a clinic in the Quad Cities and we have thousands of young people come to our clinic for birth control and their

parents are not notified. Not. There are times in which parents call us very angry. Very upset that they're going to tell and being very upset that. Their children are on birth control. Then I can like identify with those parents and yet at the same time we have to assure confidentiality to those patients and we have a we have a responsibility to take care of those. Who provide birth control to go shank people and I can say that when I walk there was a system in place so that family planning services are available to all 99 counties in Iowa. And if you don't know where your clinic has in your particular area I would apartment house or the Family Planning Council while I have information on those clinics. OK. OK we have a third and final reading of. It. It's called Jennifer story and will be read by Kelly Dan from Hoover High School and a. I was three months pregnant before I would even think about going to the doctor. I kept

saying this couldn't be happening to me. I just kept denying it. Todd was really supportive too throughout the whole thing. When I went to tap. A lot of the boyfriends just hit the road. But Todd was there the whole time. My parents were shocked. But I think they were disappointed most of all. I think they had a mixture of feelings. They were angry disappointed and scared for me themselves. How would they face their friends. How would I think it's mine. I fairly sat down and talked about what sacrifice we have to make and such. Compared to a lot of people. I had it pretty easy because both parents were cooperative and supportive. Todd and I made our own decision. We decided against abortion. Because I feel like it's killing a child. But we were still deciding and up until my seventh month whether to keep the baby or adopt him out. I think the

farther I went along the harder it was. Because I could feel the baby inside of me. It's just so tough. That's when I began to think that maybe we could do it. And so we all sat down and talked. I finally decided that we were going to keep that baby for sure. It was hard adjusting. There's just so many changes that I can't be the same person I used to be. I'm still friends with a lot of the same people. But there's something different about me compared to the rest of my friends. I have some responsibility that I have to go home to every night. It's not just thinking about yourself anymore. I still wonder if Brian would have had a better home somewhere else in the house parents married and better off. Rather than having their parents support them. I think if I would have had an abortion maybe I would have had so many burdens.

But then I look at Brian and I say No way. If I had to do it all over again I don't think Brian would be here now because I think I would have better judgment. I think it's better to have sex and if you're not going to be smart about it and don't think it can't happen to you obviously it can. Three different solutions to three different problems through fluid individuals. Everybody is different. We have a question the audience yes. I was wondering what does a statistics on teen pregnancy marriages. How many people get married. What are teen pregnancy going to be a small percentage get married it. It varies somewhat. There are some cultural differences there. In the Hispanic communities perhaps a larger percentage get married at this point in time one of the big changes a trend that's occurred in the last say 20 years

is the number of. Unwed. Teen parents in say in 1960 about 15 percent of all teen parents were not married. I think the recent statistics in the 80s 80. 85 or so has that well above 60 percent. So it's a much increased a significant increase in the number of teen parents who keep the babies and don't become married as a part of it. The divorce rate for teen marriage is really high is pretty high so as far as a teen marriage lasting beyond the first couple years. Statistically the odds are pretty well stacked against that there are just so many burdens and so many major issues financial growing up working out your relationship perhaps living with the parents all kinds of things that become really really difficult for a young marriage. Yes. Can I just add something this repeater. Statistic that was brought to my attention just recently. One in five teenage marriages are likely to break up within the

first year. One in three dissolve within two years. And three in five of these couples are separated or divorced within six years. And so that's why teenage pregnancy. It's got a social consequences of health consequence as well as a financial consequence as well as a social consequence. This is a complex issue. Yes Mike did you are you going to get married. Yeah I plan to get married and well how will you. Know. Oh I have one comment too. We have a phone question Coon Rapids Bayard Glynn Ralston school yes go ahead for this question directed to all of you. We've heard 60 to 80 percent of teen pregnancies are due to alcohol or drugs. Do you think this is pretty accurate. I think they're from sex. But my thing having sex and I think I think Peter is right not down. The holiday sex and. What have you found have you found a correlation between drugs including alcohol and

pregnancy now. One of the things that we notice that the maternal health center and that is are indeed a large number of our patients coming in to us. Who are sexually active report the use of. Some sort of drugs rather be alcohol whether it be some harder drug but there's no question that it's an interim Wolverine's set of social problems and drugs simply add to the dimension. OK we have a another phone. A phone question John F. Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids good phone. Question. On that phone. I might but I don't have it. Thanks for putting the child. Puzzle. Did you decide you could get the can. Yeah you know what does. Well you said you brought a beautiful thing into the world. There was one positive thing you see that all. You can just look at say you know this is part of me and I. Just got Think positive. You know I think negative about anything it's that I can do anything but

you know sit around and potter about it or whatever you know. Yeah I wish I didn't do that. You just gotta think positive. Can you think of positive things that came out of this. Well. Let's have days where you can. Do anything with some really you know take some. Thing. Do you feel that you're a more responsible person that you could tackle bigger problems in life. Now that I have a son now that you've gone through what you have. Oh yeah I'm ok. We have an audience question going to how does the AIDS epidemic affected the number of teenagers in sexual activity has the rate has gone down or just as a scare of AIDS in pregnancy right. I don't think I want that AIDS. Probably has affected. Adolescent Sexual activity to the to the degree that some people may have and that's only because.

There's a great sense out there that young people adolescents feel. Age is going to happen to anybody else but them it's going to happen to older people. But you know. Dr. Koop at the. Federal Department of Health and Human Services has already identified AIDS to AIDS amongst adolescents as being one of the next major public health problems. And of course what happens with AIDS is AIDS has an incubation period of. Probably about 10 years. And so it's going to take a long time before we find out how many adolescents are actually ASBOs are actually having AIDS. But. I would hope and I would say to anybody in the in this room or in the listening audience that. Every time you engage in sexual activity before really aware of the fact that you could be exposed to AIDS I can also tired that at our clinic. We no longer see as many women coming in with multiple partners in one thousand seventy five thousand nine hundred seventy six. It wasn't at all unusual to have a 20 year old woman coming in who had probably

had 20 20 sexual partners in her. In her lifetime already. Now we're seeing many more monogamous relationships. Young people are being much more careful in terms of. The number of individuals who they have intercourse with. AIDS issue right now is what we're seeing is the tip of the iceberg of a very the scary issue out there that's going to push hopefully our country to come to grips with some decisions about sexual activity about sex education all kinds of things in a more rapid manner than we've had to in the past. And again this is tied to the Substance Abuse types of things and the needles and all of that. One of our board members has a program in New York in Albany and she has a maternity home for teens teen parent programs and all of that she's at an AIDS hospice. She has a house she goes into New York City in the hospitals and brings back to her hospice the boarder babies the babies that are just left there whose mothers were

many of them teens drug users and everything and so we've got all kinds of situations that are going to be. Resulting from the whole AIDS substance abuse sexual activity sphere of. Issues. We have a phone question Boyden whole high schoolish go ahead phone and check to the panel. What percent of sexually active teen. Do you still use birth control. Do we know that. Through doing all that well you know a. Lot of the things that. Holds up pretty. Well. One of the one of the pieces of data that holds up pretty consistently is that family planning programs not just in Iowa but throughout the country. Patients coming to those clinics have been sexually active. Approximately nine months before they've come to the family planning clinic. Now again at the maternal health center. In Bettendorf Davenport. We might get maybe one virgin a month

coming to the maternal health center. All of these young people have been coming to the clinic have been sexually active for approximately nine months to 12 months and we ask these questions. We track the data and we know the data is good and then that's an important piece of information because family planning programs are frequently accused of making people sexually active. And our data simply doesn't support that these people are all sexually active when they come to our clinic. What did you do you know about protected unprotected sex contraception. Yeah but you just would you think. If you don't answer a question I have to if you if you feel that it's kind of. A half after my fall yet her fall we went to a state wrestling last year and she had forgotten and. Just didn't even talk about it was an act of just passion or would have been disease wept away as well that we could switch to a result that would have been swept away or the hormones

run fast to the brain. I would have to say I did. Were you aware that you had the option of. Yeah but I didn't think so I would remember that line. We have a we have an audience question yes go ahead. In 1985 the Wisconsin State Legislature passed a bill that required parents of the teenage mother father to provide support for the. Children of the child until the teen reaches the age of 18. What do you how do you feel on this. The grandparent liability law. Has had. I think most people would. Admit at this point very little impact in any way shape or form. First you have to prove paternity and that can take for ever and the young man can be over 18 by the time turn is proven that his parents are legally responsible for the child support.

I think the number of cases that have been. Prosecuted under that are just a handful. Very few. It was a lot more. Of us to publicize a thank you publicity that it was as far as something that was really substantive that was going to have an impact. And also I think people question the intent it was a little more on the judge mental punitive side. You know we're going to make you pay for this you're going to be responsible and that kind of attitude. I think people have problem with also it wasn't all healthy. If I can add to that the Iowa legislature had a committee on adolescent pregnancies and I served on that committee and one of the people broad was the sponsor of that Wisconsin Bill. And even he admits that has not had much of an effect at all in the state of Wisconsin. So the jury's still out on that particular effort as most birds are willing to give financially for him and I quote in the. Yes and no I mean you'll find parents and you'll find whole communities everywhere that have a real judge mental attitude about this. Honey you made a mistake and we're not going to matter

for you or young man you made a mistake and you're going to have to pay. We hear that all over the place whether we're trying to set up child care or try to get some kind of prevention program in the school it's just you know. These kids make a mistake they're going to pay. We have done Don Bosco has had shown to be beneficial for teenagers to use on love to have a baby so she could have someone to love and love her back. Well. If you want something a love that loves you back get a puppy. Did a puppy right get a get a get a bunny get some get something that doesn't cry have diarrhea or have colic. Well you know if you carry around it often times people talk about that you know I need something. People felt so needy they needed something they thought you know we see the picture of the Gerber baby and all that they're cute and cuddly and the times they are cute and cuddly but they're real 24 hour a day financial responsibility

emotionally draining responsibility comes on a woman who didn't really. Did you did you feel that way. Oh I have some love. Love me back. Yeah. Well while pregnant I thought I had. Everything changed. It was sort of the reality set in the NFL. OK we have a Web audience question yes go ahead. Our drugs and alcohol are. Dangerous to pregnant women. Oh well we're we finding a higher incidence of drug use in the teenage pregnancy cases. Well. In terms of drug use in pregnancy. We are concerned of course about alcohol or fetal syndrome. And basically what that means is that there are number of newborns who begin who are dependent on alcohol. And there is no question that drug use during pregnancy is decided disadvantageous. And any of your obedient physicians will

recommend you not use any substance at all. That one of the interesting things in Iowa is that the new chairperson of the University of Iowa is one of the foremost specialist in the world. Drug use in pregnancy I suspect that would within the next three to four years we're going to be we will be seeing some really interesting studies coming away from the University of Iowa on that particular question. But at this point in time the standard responses if you're using drugs during pregnancy stop. You could you could have could could mean the death of your child. Absolutely. Go ahead. Well I'm always hearing about how the guys don't stick around after their girlfriend gets pregnant. About how many guys really do stick around just help out to have statistics on this question. How many how many of the guys stick around when they find out the pregnant. I don't know if we've got a good statistic on stick around but. As if you mean have an active part in the life of their child.

Again I guess I don't know that there would be a stunning statistic is singled to toward teenage pregnancy I ride. So what was that 60 percent that are unmarried teen moms right now. But and one thing let me just add here when we're talking about the guys sticking around because we tend to think sometimes teenage girls teenage guys. But a lot of the guys involved in the whole thing are older guys. I'm not letting your teenage guys off the hook entirely. Not to go but a lot of guys teen fathers are in their 20s or so I think a third of the an 85 I think they were talking about like a third of the teen pregnancies are to gals that maybe are 18 19 and are married and a third 18 19 year old not married and then the last third under that age 17 and under. So you've got an older age or gal who's going often with a guy that's 20 25 or older. OK. We ran out of time I'm sorry. Those of you have questions it's good. Keep them in your

head and you should you should remember them. I want to thank the panel fed you for coming by Thank you Tom. Sharon wrote Dean very nice of you to come by Samantha and Mike. You volunteered your time and you and you came out in front of all these people you're very brave. Thank you all very much for sharing your expertise with us. Now when we left the show a lot of people had their hands up. It's OK if you go to a parent or a counselor or a teacher. Good questions all day long you know and they sure don't get paid enough. Remember questions are what make this show special special. Your questions are are your weapon against against everything and it's your right to ask a question if you have one. So go to someone who has an answer and ask your questions and ask away.

Thank you very much for coming in and ask questions. If you need help and don't know where to turn. Free for information and

referral. That's 800 for 4 3 8 3 3 6 4 4 3 Team Major funding for Iowa students look at teen pregnancy was provided by friends of Iowa Public Television. The preceding program was originally broadcast live on February 6th 1989.