July 29, 2007
“I think that them being around Abby, and seeing how neat it was having this little baby, it glamorized it,” said Sara’s mother, Teresa Phillips, 42. “In a lot of cases with teen pregnancy, I think that’s what it is. It’s irresponsibility with the birth control, but most of the time the girls want these babies and these families, the same way I felt about my baby.”
Phillips, who is executive director and co-founder of the Woman’s Co-op — a network for local women aiding with education and employment — was a teen mother, too.
“I thought a baby was going to make everything OK, something to love, and I didn’t think of all the consequences,” she said.
Working full-time with two young children, Phillips said she was not able to finish her college education in six years — which is the norm for teen moms.
Now, she lives at poverty level in Battle Creek with her husband, two daughters, son and two grandchildren. Both daughters were pregnant before age 18.
AN EPIDEMIC
Teen pregnancy is an epidemic in Calhoun County, which ranked fourth highest of 83 counties in Michigan for teen pregnancies per capita in 2005, according to the state Department of Community Health. Statistics represent individuals age 15 to 19.
“We have one of the worst rates of teen pregnancy in the state — a state that has one of the worst rates in the nation, and a nation that has one of the worst rates in the developed world,” said Pat Horton, co-chairman of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Partnership, or TP3, and community outreach/education coordinator for Planned Parenthood of South Central Michigan.
The problem is focused in Battle Creek, where the rate is double that of Marshall and triple that of Albion.
Teens outside the Cereal City, however, are not immune. Marshall and Albion girls become pregnant at a rate higher than Michigan teens on average.
Both state and local pregnancy rates have declined at the same sluggish pace since 2000, Horton said. A drastic reduction is needed in Calhoun County, but it may take 30 years.
Teen pregnancy is a complicated problem, Horton said.
“It’s not just about genitals; it’s about something much larger than that,” he said.
It’s understanding that teens, especially girls, are looking for respect, love and commitment. Some want to be pregnant, thinking a baby will bring those things, he said.
“They want someone to love them, someone to love,” Horton said. “They notice pregnant teens get a lot of attention.”
At Planned Parenthood, he’s seen teenage girls walk out, disappointed a pregnancy test came out negative.
Internet Pharmacy - Buy Pharmacy at reasanoble prices.Internet Pharmacy provides confortable and easy way to order pharmacy via internet.”I know people who will talk about having a baby or have children with somebody, and that’s just not that big a deal,” said Jessie Torres, 21, Phillips’ daughter and Leiter’s big sister. “But marriage? ‘Oh, that’s something we have to wait for. I don’t know if I’d ever do that.’”
The sisters had unplanned pregnancies, Torres at 17 and Leiter at 16. Both used birth control, but Torres missed a few pills and Leiter was between methods when the girls became pregnant.
Torres, who postponed sex until she was engaged, found herself pregnant with a fiance who cheated.
He was not interested in being a father, and left her for another girl after she broke the news, Phillips said.
Abigail’s father wasn’t interested, either, and left Leiter for a girl without a baby, Leiter said.
“I know some girls who have gotten pregnant because they had a serious boyfriend and they wanted to go to the next step, and (the girls) just thought a baby was the next step,” Torres said.
Now Torres lives at home with her 3-year-old son, Damian, works second shift and shares baby-sitting duties with her 17-year-old sister, Leiter, who is dual-enrolled at Calhoun Community High School and Kellogg Community College.
“(Some of Leiter’s friends) knew that once they had the baby, no matter how old they are, they can get welfare assistance,” Phillips said. “Often times, I think maybe the resources are better spent in educating them not to be dependent on these systems.”
Leiter receives Women, Infants and Children food subsidies, Medicaid and home nurse visitations through Melville, N.Y.-based Gentiva Health Services Inc. Her baby’s father was ordered to pay $51 a month in child support, she said.
Half of married teen mothers and more than three-quarters of unmarried teen mothers began receiving welfare within five years of the birth of their first child, according a 1990 study by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, a Washington, D.C.-based public policy group.
Less than one-third of moms who start their families before 18 ever earn a high school diploma and a meager 1.5 percent get a college degree before they turn 30.
Lack of education can lead moms into low-paying jobs, which increases the chance their children will be raised in poverty.
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