TEENAGE PREGNANCY

By Law Teacher

I. Thesis Statement: Adoption is the best choice you can make for all the advantages it comes with and abortion can cause infections and possible complications later and parenting is too expensive for any teenager and it also prevents you from enjoying your young life.

II. Parenting comes with many hassles and requires at least twenty years out of your own life to cater for your child’s needs. (Topic Sentence).

Some teen mothers are forced to live on their own because their parents don’t want the added financial and emotional strain of a grandchild in the house. (Beyer 3).

Months after the baby is born, many of the people who are now lavishing attention on Jade will return to the normal rhythm of their lives. But Jade will remain the center of attention for at least one person – her baby. (Beyer 3).

She must be committed and informed enough to be able to guide and care for her child for many years after his or her birth. (Beyer 4).

Every mother, no matter how able or strong, needs a lot of help for the first few weeks after her baby is born. (Beyer 4).

III. Some abortions occur in a natural way whereas the rest of the times, it’s based on a decision. (Topic Sentence).

More than one-half of the women who decide to have an abortion are in their twenties. Approximately 20 percent are under age 19. Therefore, teens make up about one in five of all abortions. (Kittleson 15).

Although abortion remains legal, it is not an acceptable form of contraception. (Kittleson 21).

Risks involved with suction curettage and D and E include uterine infection, bleeding, or incomplete removal of the uterine contents. Most doctors require a follow-up visit to ensure there were no complications. (Kittleson 16).

Side effects associated with the abortion pill are heavy bleeding, nausea, vomiting, and severe uterine cramping. (Simpson 11).

IV. Adoption is the best option because the adoptive parents will pay for all the medical expenses and you can continue living your teenage life with no guilt or a baby. (Topic Sentence).

In some private adoption agencies, the adoptive couple covers the expenses of your pregnancy and delivery. (Simpson 21).

A primary purpose of adoption was to protect the reputation of the mother and her family from the shame of a birth out of wedlock. (Dudley 18).

Sharon tried not to think about the baby growing inside her because it only made her decision to give him up that much harder. She pretended she was at the home because she was ill, an illness that would go away in a few more months. (Simpson 22).

Believe it or not, the baby’s father must sign the adoption papers too, waiving his parental rights. (Simpson 27).

VI. Conclusion

Teenage Pregnancy Options

Teenagers make many decisions in their life and choosing to be sexually active is something that is definitely going to affect them both mentally and physically. Once pregnant, the girl has to be considering her options and what would be the best for her and the baby now inside her. Adoption is the best choice to make for all the advantages it comes with where as abortion can cause infections and possible complications later and parenting is too expensive for any teenager and it also prevents one from enjoying an individual’s young life.

Now that there are many types of contraceptive methods available to this generation, more than ever, more teens are getting reckless and do not realize that no one is one hundred percent protected and that there still is a slight chance of getting pregnant. Most run into a dangerous risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease and are not ready to deal with the consequences. It is not that these teens are not aware of diseases or getting pregnant; instead are just ignorant, plain and simple. Teenage pregnancy is something that will stick with any girl for the rest of her life and no matter what option one will choose, it will never be forgotten.

Parenting comes with many hassles and requires at least twenty years out of your own life to cater for your child’s needs. Some teen mothers are forced to live on their own because his or her parents do not want the added financial and emotional strain of a grandchild in the house (Beyer 3). There are cultures where a girl is looked down upon if pregnant at a young age and chooses to raise the child herself and no one dares to talk to her. The whole process is indeed stressful not just for the mother, but the whole family; however, the family should be there for the young girl in her desperate time of need. It is also during this period of time that the daughter sees her parents’ true colors and hopes that they choose to support her every step of the way because without it, she might not be able to do it. Every mother, no matter how able or strong, needs a lot of help for the first few weeks after her baby is born (Beyer 4). Confusion is one of the many emotions first time parents feel, no matter how young or old and making choices does not only affect the individual now, but the child too. Months after the baby is born, many of the people who are now lavishing attention on the mother will return to the normal rhythm of their lives (Beyer 3). The actual parenting will now be a nightmare and the mother will need a lot of guidance on what to do from there and she will need to learn to make the baby part of her life if she had not already. Having a new member of the family might be exciting for a while until the baby’s demands are no longer tolerable, so it is necessary to think about how one will feel in the long run. She must be committed and informed enough to be able to guide and care for her child for many years after his or her birth (Brian 136). Sometimes the child’s mother might get frustrated for she will feel like she is being told what to do and now takes responsibility for the child’s actions as well as hers. She might not know what to do in the situation and instead let that anger out on her child and he/she will grow up physically abused and will also struggle to live a normal life.

Some abortions occur in a natural way whereas the rest of the times, it is based on a decision. More than one-half of the women who decide to have an abortion are in their twenties. Approximately twenty percent are under age nineteen. Therefore, teens make up about one in five of all abortions (Kittleson 15). The statistics show that abortion among teens really is a part of reality and is not a joke. Although abortion remains legal, it is not an acceptable form of contraception (Edelson 81). The thought that one will get an abortion if she were to fall pregnant is not something that should even cross a girl’s mind for first, it is illegal and second, it is inhumane to kill another living being for one’s own selfish reasons. Risks involved with suction curettage and D and E include uterine infection, bleeding, or incomplete removal of the uterine contents. Most doctors require a follow-up visit to ensure there were no complications (Kittleson 16). Dilation and evacuation, or curettage D and E, is usually done within the first twelve weeks of the pregnancy. To figure out the size of the uterus, an ultrasound is done before the procedure and the cervix is also dilated to prevent any injury during the surgery. It is not just a procedure that is done and will never have to worry about again. Regular visits to a doctor on a regular basis are a must to guarantee that there is not anything abnormal which will be hazardous to one’s health. Side effects associated with the abortion pill are heavy bleeding, nausea, vomiting, and severe uterine cramping (Simpson 11). There is never an easy way out of pregnancy and either way the girl will suffer, either mentally or physically and this proves it. It was certainly preventable and it gave the girl nothing but trouble, pain and disgrace.

The best choice is adoption because the adoptive parents will take care of everything, the individual will know that the baby is in good hands and can continue living their teenage life with no guilt and no baby. In some private adoption agencies, the adoptive couple covers the expenses of your pregnancy and delivery (Simpson 21). Being pregnant and then managing a job to pay for the expenses causes stress for both mother and baby. Certain adoptions, however, take a load off of the mother’s shoulders and there is no need to further worry about the thousands of dollars she would have had to pay the hospital for the baby’s delivery. A primary purpose of adoption was to protect the reputation of the mother and her family from the shame of a birth out of wedlock (Dudley 18). This covers the conflict with culture and though things might have changed nine months along the way, there is nothing stopping the young girl from having her life back. She tried not to think about the baby growing inside her because it only made her decision to give him up that much harder. She pretended she was at the home because she was ill, an illness that would go away in a few more months (Simpson 22). It can be a tough decision to give up someone that one was so close to and had nurtured, but when an individual knows that she cannot accommodate a young baby, but also do not want to hurt it, it is the better alternative. An advantage of picking adoption is that it is not like abortion where one feels guilty and keeps wondering “what if…” and is a lot less expensive than parenting. Believe it or not, the baby’s father must sign the adoption papers too, waiving his parental rights (Simpson 27). It is not only under the mother’s interest what is best for the baby. The point of having the father sign the adoption papers is for the state to know that he is aware that his son/daughter is being adopted and also has the right to object.

Young adults do not always know the difference between right and wrong and will learn from their mistakes eventually and teenage pregnancy is just one of them. It is one of the many obstacles that these unfortunate teenagers have to overcome and though it may seem impossible at times, they will make it alive for there are options that will help them deal with it. Adoption assures that everyone will be happy without the mother having to take any risks or paying for the baby’s expenses and that is why adoption is the best option.