Teenage Pregnancy

Teenage Pregnancy - The Reality
Although it is an extremely difficult situation for a teen to deal with a teenage pregnancy, current statistics reveal that approximately 10% of girls 19 and under do get pregnant.

It is a beautiful and exciting thing for a baby to be created, yet it can be a frightening and uncertain time for a teen who was not planning to become pregnant. Many girls are terrified to tell their parents they are pregnant, while others have highly irresponsible or abusive parents who are absolutely not a refuge or resource for their pregnant teenager.

In Kristin’s* case, she was deeply in love with her boyfriend and believed they would get married someday. Kristin’s boyfriend said he loved her, and he seemed like a great guy the whole time they were dating, but he wouldn’t have anything more to do with Kristin after she told him she was pregnant and, to make matters even worse, he denies that he fathered the baby Kristin is carrying.

Unfortunately, the biological father is often uninterested in marriage or fatherhood, and the teen mother-to-be is abandoned -- like Kristin -- at the time she most needs support from the man in her life. (Read other teen pregnancy stories)

Teenage Pregnancy - Considering the Options
If you are facing a teenage pregnancy, this is no time to make a decision without thinking it through--thoroughly. If you are being counseled to abort your baby, please don’t allow yourself to be forced into doing something that you will most likely regret for the rest of your life. Carefully consider keeping your baby, or giving your child up for adoption to a caring husband and wife who are unable to have children of their own.

The life you now carry is precious to God and He has a plan for your baby. Take your time and make a decision you can live with. Learn more here about teen pregnancy options.

Teenage Pregnancy - How Can You Go On?
Whether you have already made your decision, or are still considering what to do about your teenage pregnancy and the child you are carrying, you may be feeling angry, depressed, guilty, ashamed, or hopeless. You may also feel that your innocence is gone and there is no way for your life to be made whole again. If you are experiencing any of these feelings, I want you to know that there is hope.

There once was a married woman who was not only dragged out of bed – naked -- as she was having sex with a man who was not her husband, but she was then humiliatingly brought--in public--to Jesus, the Son of God, so the people could find out what He would say about her sin. At that time in history, and in the place where the woman was caught having sex, it was legal for the people to throw stones at her, knocking her unconscious and, eventually, killing her because of her sin.

Amazingly, Jesus did not accuse her or pick up a stone to throw at her. Instead, he turned to her accusers and said, "Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone." One by one, the crowd left, and only the woman and Jesus remained. Jesus asked her where her accusers had gone and whether any of them had condemned her. She answered that they had not condemned her. Then Jesus said "Neither do I. Go and sin no more." (To read the whole story see John 8:3-11.)

Today, you can be free of the guilt and shame of what has happened in your life by turning to God and asking Him to forgive you.