You are on page 1of 6

Sharquise Prince Nick Camaj

March 6, 2016
Hour 5th
Unintended pregnancy among teens can have a number of negative
consequences for those involved including their families, futures and society as a
whole. It is a complex and controversial social issue in the United States where as it
is not so unique but rather usual in developing countries due to the fact that most
girls marry and have children before the age of twenty. In 2014, there were 24.2
births for every 1,000 adolescent female from ages 15-19 making up a number of
249,078 born into this female age group. In 2011, 45% of all pregnancies in the U.S
were unintended making the rate for pregnancy 45 per 1,000 women higher than
any developing country that year. 16 million girls between the ages of 15-19 give
birth every year, 77% are unintended and 4 in 10 teens say the sex was involuntary
or unwanted. If these trends continue, more than half of teenage girls in the United
States will experience an unintended pregnancy by the time they reach the age of
forty. With unintended pregnancy comes the discussion of adoption. In the U.S
397,122 children are living without a permanent homes or families. Of these
children and others with homes they make up 2% of the total child population. So
why dont these precious children have homes? UNICEFF estimates 151 million
children have lost one parent and 15 million have lost both due to a number of
reasons like death, drug related or because their parents werent prepared to take
on such responsibilities. Children who are raised into foster care systems usually
have an IQ of 20 points lower than their peers because of being taken in and out of
different school districts. Could you imagine the amount of stress and concern on a
young ones mind while having to keep up with their education? Kind of like the

Sharquise Prince Nick Camaj


March 6, 2016
Hour 5th
same situation a teen parent would go through when dealing with an unplanned
pregnancy. One of the reasons why pregnant teens who receive services that
provide counseling information on adoption they are seven times likely to choose
adoption over abortion. We understand the topic of this paper is about teen
pregnancy and adoption, but while having the what if talk with our peers, we both
found it nearly impossible to avoid. We believe that the conversation of abortion is
just as significant as adoption and should not go untalked about and that a young
couple should have the right to know about all of their options before choosing what
is best for them.

During our research we both realized we didn't fully understand the process of adoption. Come
to find out, almost all of our judgments on adoption agencies and how they operate were
completely wrong. People give their babies up for adoption because the pregnancy was
unplanned, they werent suitable parents or because they werent ready financially or
emotionally. It is a difficult process to legally become an adoptive parent. First, you complete an
expression of interest form and from there the department looks at your form and decides
whether you can be entered. If you get passed the expression of interest form that could become
expired within 2 years of being entered if you are not selected for assessment during the time
period, you get selected by the department and go through a number of health checks, criminal
history, domestic violence history and a minimum of 4 to 5 at home interviews. When
completed, a recommendation is made by the department regarding if the couple is suitable
enough to become adoptive parents and if found as such you are put on a list and the department
decides which couple on the list best fits the childs needs and interests. When and if chosen, a

Sharquise Prince Nick Camaj


March 6, 2016
Hour 5th
couple is provided with information about the child and a placement is made. If the couple
accepts the placement, the couple becomes the childs adoptive parents under something called
an interim and the child is in the couples care for at least 12 months until the final adoption order
is made.
For mothers and couples looking to release their baby, they must first decide if adoption is right
for them by talking with a social worker. The mother or birth parents must create an adoption
plan. This adoption plan includes having your own personal adoption specialist, to talk about
your expectations of what kind of family you want to release your baby to and what type of
contact you wish to have with your child and the family after birth. The process of finding a
home for your baby adoptive specialist say is the most difficult step in the process because it can
be very stressful on both parents and even both families. The next step to releasing your baby is
taking your expectations and choosing a couple who are eligible to become legal adoptive
parents that have been selected through departments. You eventually meet with the couple and
make your final decisions. There is no cost for adoption if you are the birth parents but when
looking to adopt it can cost up to $50,000 considering what type of adoption is pursued. When it
comes to making a decision, the parents and department agencies decide. Agencies decide if a
couple is suitable enough to become an adoptive parent and the biological parents have the
overall say. Different types of adoptions can be arranged such as adopting a relative, a
grandchild, internationally, a stepchild and even an adult. There is an open and closed adoption.
An open adoption means information between both adoptive and biological families are shared
and the biological parents wish to have close relationships with their child and the adoptive
parents. A close adoption is where no information and shared and there is no contact at all. How
do adopted kids usually feel years later? Looking on websites about adoption the most frequently

Sharquise Prince Nick Camaj


March 6, 2016
Hour 5th
asked question about adoption was Will my child hate me for placing him/her up for adoption?
and we believe the answer to that question is no, most children grow up to love and respect their
birth parents despite their decisions. So when giving up a child, what are some things a mother
should consider before going through all of this? Putting her babys needs before her own.
The 2014 the teen birth rate indicates a decline of nine percent from 2013 when the birth rate was
26.5 per 1,000 and has declined almost continuously over the past 20 years and is still higher
than it was in the 60' 70's and in other developing countries including Canada and the United
Kingdom. Teen birth rates can differ by age, ethnic groups and region of the country. In 2014, 73
percent of the teens who gave birth were 18 to 19 years of age. Rates are usually higher among
girls of Hispanic and African American backgrounds appose to white. In 2014, Hispanic girls
from the ages 15-19 had the highest birth rate being 38 births per 1,000 female followed by
African American being 34.9 births per 1,000 and white being 17.3 births per 1,000. Estimates
from the 2013 show that 11 percent of teen girls will give birth before her 20th birthday with
differences between ethnic groups: 8 percent for white females, 16 percent of African American
girls and 17 percent of Hispanics. Only 40 percent of teen mothers finish high school and fewer
than 2 percent finish college by the age of 30. Young women who give birth while attending a
community college are 65 percent less likely to complete their degree than women who do not
have children during that time. 60 percent of the children of teen mothers are expected to do
worse when it comes to their time in school 50 percent are likely to repeat a grade or drop out.
From 2008-2009 74 percent to 82 of the teenage mothers in Michigan received their high school
diploma. When looking for someone to talk to a teen girl can go to local youth groups, social
workers or even call hotlines to talk to someone, but instead of talking to a complete stranger it is
best to go to a parent. All of the following will provide her with information whether she is

Sharquise Prince Nick Camaj


March 6, 2016
Hour 5th
pregnant or not and give advice and also tell her about her options like adoption, abortion,
parenthood and prevention and safe sex.

Some things we learned during the course of this project is more about adoption. We found out
that not just anyone can become a legal adoptive parent with a few background checks and that
the process can take up to 3 years before you are titled as such. A few times during this paper we
both found ourselves trying to mentally walk through a teenage parent's shoes. We wanted to
know what other teens would do if they were in the situation of an unplanned pregnancy so we
took the discussion to social media to ask some of our followers what would they do. When
asking the question If you/your partner got pregnant (unplanned) would you give your baby up
for adoption? 68 percent of my followers said no while only 32 percent said yes. I began to
question people when answering my question and the answers I got were shocking. The poll and
discussion was open for both female and male. Most females said that they would never give
their baby up for adoption and that they would just take on their responsibilities while the other
half said they would because they weren't stable enough for provide for their child so they would
want a loving couple who could, leaving the other half with no choice except abortion. My male
followers mostly all agreed that they would never give their child up because they would just
man up and take on their roll as a parent and that they would never go through with abortion
unless their partner was certain and even then some of them said they would talk them out of the
idea. Some efforts to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies in the United States is simple
education. By providing teenagers with more in depth basic health education about parenthood
and safe sex, I believe behavior would change efficiently and reduce the statistics. Also

Sharquise Prince Nick Camaj


March 6, 2016
Hour 5th
educating teenage girls about things like abortion, birth control and safe sex would also make a
change in statistics. Of course the only way to avoid parenthood as we all know is abstinence.
All in all, we both agree that over the next few years we hope to see the rate of teenage
pregnancies reduce and more in depth education during health education courses and
conversations about topics like abortion and abstinence should be taken more seriously and
should not be looked at as just something included into lesson plans because some teens feel like
they can't talk about these things with their parents so educating them in class would trigger
interest to further research and boost the confidence to have the discussion at home.

You might also like