You choose...

This week we've talked about the three choices that women/teens have when they become pregnant: Parenting, Abortion, and adoption. All of which are not easy decisions to make, but they are the only options that a pregnent teen has. In recent studies (...well...2006 recent) approximately 59% of pregnancies among 15–19-year-olds ended in birth (parenting), and 27% in abortion. That means that 27 out of 100 teen pregnancies usually end in an abortion....This brings me to my main point....

Abortion is a really sensitive subject in present day society. A lot of women/ teens are against abortion for religious/ moral reasons (or just in hopes of keeping the baby's father around), but some actually think that abortion is the best option for themselves. when it comes to teen pregnancy, choosing abortion could be a very difficult decision to make; not only because it terminates the pregnancy, but it also requires parental consent for minors. Telling your parents that you are pregnant can be a difficult task by itself, but telling your parents that you wish to terminate your pregnancy is even more mind boggling. According to an article, "Laws restricting teenagers access to abortion"  ( http://www.aclu.org/reproductive-freedom/laws-restricting-teenagers-access-abortion) the government requiring parental consent for an abortion prevents alot of teens from actually going through with it. Do you think that parental consent is neccessary for a pregnant teen to have an abortion? if so, why do you think that a teen needs parental consent for an abortion, but they do not need parental consent to give their child up for adoption? Do you think that the number of teenage abortions would increase if parental consent was not required? Tell me thoughts about the article...how do you feel about the topic as a whole?...

Simone McGary

Very Different Representations...

After watching quite a few episodes of 16 and Pregnant this semester watching The Business of Being Born was a very interesting juxtaposition of representations of pregnancy and birth. In The Business of Being Born we are presented with women whom are empowered by their bodies and in control of the process of birthing that they experience. In 16 and Pregnant, we are shown a quite different image of women who are shown to be disconnected with their bodies and not given a large amount of choice surrounding the multitude of changes taking place in their very own bodies. I think it is very important for us to think critically of the representations we are being given, to look past what we are seeing on these shows and think of how they are being constructed socially as well as the control the producers and film-makers have in constructing the images we are seeing.

On top of the material we have been watching, the material we are reading this week can also be seen in a lens of social construction, many of the articles in fact are directly addressing this issue, such as the article dissecting the gendered implications in society's construction and women's experience of childbirth.

 In addition to all of this I would like us to consider the implications to the new Bravo television show coming out this April Pregnant in Heels, which is a new reality show about rich expectant mothers in New York City. I want to know what you all think of this representation of pregnancy in conversation with all of the other representations we have seen or read about thus far in class. What does adding this representation mean to our understanding of how pregnancy is represented in pop culture in the US? How do class, race, age and gender play into all of the representations shaping them in different ways? Basically what do you all think??

- Emilia

Adoption and Teen Pregnancy

For this week of 16 and Pregnant, we had the opportunity to witness a teen mom, Lori, go through the adoption process.  Lori was adopted, making her situation quite unique. In the episode, Lori struggles with the decision to either keep her baby or give the child up for an adoption. Part of Lori's difficulty in making a decision comes from the lack of support on her parent's end. However, Lori's desire for a biological family connection plays into her desire to keep her child, but on the other hand, her rocky and unstable relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Corey,  also forces her to consider adoption. It appears that the lack of support from her parents played the biggest role in her decision to give up her child. Lori was featured in an article in People magazine five months after giving up her son. In the article, Lori admits to "reluctantly agreeing to the adoption" and "being forced into this [the adoption]".  Lori eventually admits that her parents had "her best interest in mind" and she now realizes she "was living in a fantasy world".  The article also includes some commentary from Lori's parents.  Lori's mother admits she knew Lori wasn't ready for motherhood and that she and her husband were willing to serve  as grandparents and not actual parenting in the unborn child's life.  Lori's parents were quite financially stable (Her father's an anesthesiologist and her mother is a nurse.) yet less financially stable families have been shown on the show who were much more supportive of their teen daughters keeping their babies.  What do you think contributes to a a more financially stable family being against teen parenting versus a less financially stable family being supportive of teen parenting? 

A  second People article introduced Ashley Wilkens, a seventeen year old teen mom who, like Lori, chose to give her child up for an adoption. Ashley had zero support from her teen father, prompting her to really consider and go along with the adoption process. Unlike Lori's parents, Ashley's mother was quite supportive of her teen parenting her child and in fact, she was quite upset with Ashley's decision to give up her son. Her mother shared "It had a devastating effect on our family...I would have raised that baby". Her reaction and the reaction of Lori's parents  are strikingly different.  Why do you think some parents, like Ashley's, take the decision of their children to give up their children (In an attempt to give their children "better" lives) so deeply and personally?  Caitlyn and Tyler, parents who also chose adoption, faced some harsh reactions from their own parents in giving up their baby girl, Carly, as well. 
-Ashley Boyd