Nadine Mundy is a 15-year-old, Grade 10 student at William Aberhart High School in Calgary. And woven into the intricacies of her teenage life is the question of when to become sexually active.
More and more teenagers are choosing abstinence till they’re older and ready for what a sexual relationship might bring.
“You’ll be smarter and more aware of the dangers of having sex and you’ll be more careful,” Mundy says.
Younger people are realizing that sex in not a casual thing; there are emotional and psychological aspects to it, says Dr. Marta Edgar, a counsellor at the SAIT student services centre.
But mental or physical preparedness isn’t the only thing holding the teens of today back.
“Sexually transmitted infections are on the rise, and then there is AIDS which is a life threatening disease. People realize it’s not a fantastic idea to jump into a sexual relationship,” Edgar says.
For teenage girls, the fear of pregnancy is almost greater than the fear of contracting a sexually transmitted infection.
“I know someone who had a problem with failed contraception and it’s a lot harder than you’d think to get Plan B,” Mundy says.
Teenage pregnancy also brings with it social rejection for the girl.
“People think they (pregnant teens) made a wrong choice and so they don’t need to treat them (pregnant teens) like any other person,” Mundy says.
Alyssha Hansma, another 15-year-old, Grade 10 student at Henry Wisewood High School, agrees that teen pregnancy still has some stigma attached to it.
“I decided to wait longer because I don’t want to get pregnant,” she says.
According to Hansma, getting pregnant as a teenager is the road to poverty, welfare and abortion.
So while more and more teenage girls are choosing abstinence and safe sex, fewer of those who do get pregnant choose to give birth.
In 1997, the estimated number for teen pregnancies came down to 42,162 compared to the estimated total 46,753 for 1994, according to a health report on teenage pregnancy by Statistics Canada.
While the number of teenage pregnancies is going down, abortion is gaining popularity among teens who do get pregnant. This had been the case for younger teens in most years since 1993.
More teens are choosing abortions because teen pregnancies are full of risk, according to the report.
Children of teenagers are more likely to have low birth weights, and to suffer the associated health problems. Pregnant teens themselves are also at greater risk of health problems, including, for example, anemia, hypertension, renal disease, and depressive disorders.
“Reaching puberty means a girl is physically ready to carry a baby to full term,” says Kazia Gerber, a SAIT health services nurse.
But there can be problems for both mother and child if the mother is too young.
The age of puberty has also gone down significantly in the past few decades, according to a report by the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society, based in California.
The average age of girls showing signs of puberty has dropped from 11 to seven or six.
In case of a pre-teen pregnancy, the mother’s health is at a very high risk and the survival of the child to full term is difficult.
Even abortion can be dangerous because it might lead to hemorrhaging, Gerber says.
“It’s more complicated for a teen, especially a younger teen, to carry a pregnancy to full term,” says Celia Posyniak, manager of the Kensington Clinic.
“An abortion does not endanger them as much as a pregnancy.”
Kensington Clinic is an abortion facility funded by the Calgary Health Region, providing surgical and medical abortion services up to the 20th week of the pregnancy.
The clinic provides counselling on the day of abortion and after abortion, if required.
“But most people who come to us have already made up their minds and usually are relieved after the abortion,” Posyniak says.
It is a quick solution to all the teenagers’ questions about raising a child alone without good support systems and still managing to achieve something in their own lives, she says.
Teenagers who need help with making a decision should call government counselling services like the Calgary Birth Control Association, the Family Planning Clinic operated by the Calgary Health Region or Planned Parenthood Alberta, she adds.
“There are some organisations out there that are pro-life and would counsel you to keep the child, without taking your situation into account,” she says.
Some crisis pregnancy centres try to present themselves as non-religious, non-judgmental counselling agencies, according to Posyniak. But they primarily counsel against abortion and sometimes have a hidden faith-based mission.
Birthright Calgary is a pro-life pregnancy helpline. They receive financial support from Catholic Charities, a division of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary.
“We support carrying the baby to term,” says Sue McCullogh, director of Birthright Calgary.
Their helpline is run by a group of volunteers, mostly “everyday women,” who say they give all available options to teens even though they admittedly avoid the topic of abortion.
The teens or distressed women who come to the Birthright office receive free pregnancy tests, with the advice to confirm test results with a physician.
“If a positive pregnancy is confirmed, we help the teen or woman find the resources to support themselves and their baby,” McCullogh says.
Although Birthright does not provide financial support to teens, it does provide emotional support. If a teen requests, a volunteer accompanies her to help with breaking the news of the pregnancy to the teen’s parents.
If the teen wishes to put her child up for adoption, then Birthright can assist with the process.
But carrying the baby to term is always the best option for every pregnant woman or teen, according to McCullogh.
“Pregnancy is not a problem. We need people to see that we are here to support in every way we can.”
Pregnancy may or may not be a problem, but young mothers, especially teens, need a lot of support especially if they choose to keep the baby.
The Louise Dean Centre assists pregnant and parenting teens with their educational, social, emotional and health needs, according to Cindy Pringle, the centre’s nurse.
The centre is supported by the Calgary Board of Education, the Catholic Family Service and the Calgary Health Region.
“Majority of the girls here come from single parent families,” Pringle says.
“Even if they have both parents, the support systems are pretty weak.”
At the centre, there are teachers, Public Health personnel and social work counsellors to help the young women through their problems.
The mothers-to-be take pre-natal classes and get credits for a parenting course after the birth of the child. They also have access to couples counselling and classes to help their parents prepare for being grandparents.
The centre mostly focuses on the social and emotional needs of the pregnant teens.
“They are physically ready for children but there is a social risk due to poor nutrition, drinking and drug abuse,” Pringle says.
“And they tend to have undiagnosed depressive or other psychological problems.”
The assumption that pregnancy disrupts the lives of teenagers is incorrect, she explains.
“Most of them are drifting, feeling left out, living on the streets for at least a year before they get pregnant,” she says.
They also make friends with other teenagers who are also pregnant and find acceptance, sometimes for the first time in their lives.
“Having a baby makes them happy, they feel like a success.”
