“It can’t happen to me.” Those are the words of many teen girls when they decide to have sex. However, more than 800,000 teen girls become pregnant each year.¹ The truth is that it can happen to you, and it can drastically effect the way you live.

Financially

Babies are expensive. Think of all the money that goes into their lives at such a young age. Formula, diapers, wipes, shots, clothing, food, toys, and many more things are part of the expense of having a baby. Do you have that kind of money? Almost a third of teen mothers are poor in their 20s and 30s and 7% remain poor throughout the rest of their lives.¹

Socially

You can’t control when your baby is going to need attention. You can’t control when your baby is going to get sick, or keep you up all night. You might not be able to hang out with friends as much, and you might have to stay at home more to take care of the baby.

It could also affect your family life because you are most likely dependent on your parents financially (especially at a young age) and that could put extra stress on them to financially take care of the baby.

Educationally

You might have to drop out of school if you get pregnant as a teen. It could be very difficult to focus on your schooling and be able to take care of your baby. Teen mothers have much lower levels of education than other women, which can severely limit their career options. Only 70% of teen mothers complete high school or earn a GED.¹

For the guy

So does this mean the male partner in the relationship can just leave and have no consequences if his girlfriend gets pregnant? No. In New York State the parent is required to pay child support until the child is 21 years old.² The male might have to drop out of school to get a good job. “Burger flipper” jobs don’t pay well.

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Choosing abstinence until marriage completely eliminates the risk of getting pregnant. One of the best things you can do for your future children is to let yourself grow up first so you can take care of them properly. Abstinence allows you to do just that, without all the worry.

1. Pregnancy Statistics, http://www.medinstitute.org/content.php?name=teenPregnancyMother,          Accessed: 9/25/07
2. New York State child support. https://newyorkchildsupport.com/non_custodial_parent_info.html#amount  Accessed on 9/8/08