"Pregnancy Pact"

Ever thought that it would be cool to be pregnant at the same time as your sister .....or maybe you have always wanted to raise kids with your best friend so that your kids can be best friends. I feel certain movies have been made with similar story lines and it is joked about often among young ladies. However, never in my life would I ever have even considered the idea of getting pregnant at the same time as my high school friends while I was in High School. Yet for 17 young ladies at Gloucester High School that is exactly what happened. 

Pact girls 'upset not pregnant'

At least 17 high-school students, many aged 16 and younger, are expecting babies after apparently making a "pregnancy pact" in the United States.

Officials in the Massachusetts city of Gloucester today said nearly half of those who became pregnant appear to have entered into a pact to have their babies together over the year.

"Some girls seemed more upset when they weren't pregnant than when they were," Gloucester High School principal Joseph Sullivan told Time magazine, which broke news of the pact on its website.

A high school health clinic became suspicious after seeing a surge in girls seeking pregnancy tests.

Authorities are looking at whether to pursue statutory rape charges against some of the men involved. Some of them are aged in their mid-20s, including one man who appeared to be homeless. Others were boys in the school.

To read the rest of this story go to  http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/pact-girls-upset-not-pregnant/2008/06/20/1213770897442.html 

I sat eating with Colby today as that headline scrolled across the screen. I grabbed my laptop so I could read the entire story......and sat shocked and appalled at what I was reading.  As Colby and I continued discussing the story we both couldn't help but wonder what our world is coming to. I've heard of a lot of dumb ideas in my day.... but A PREGNANCY PACT! I mean REALLY?!? I am saddened to think of the children that will soon be born to those teens. Sadden to think that those little ones were conceived out of a selfish desire to have kids all together because it would be "fun" or "cool." Since when has teen age pregnancy been fun or cool? When I was in high school girls accidently got pregnant and as a result spent the next months being the talk of the school as their due date came closer and closer. I am left fighting the desire to want to find these girls. Half of me wants to shake some sense into them while my other half simply wants to wrap them up and heal whatever it is in their lives that left them in a position where this seemed liked a good idea. 

I mean where were the parents of these girls as they went so far as to seek out random homeless men to sleep with just to fulfill their desire to be pregnant? Furthermore, how have we come so far that schools are now having to decide if they want to legalize the distribution of contraceptives within their school buildings? Precious time and money are being spent on such debates and court cases because suddenly there is a need for such conversations. However, none of that is really solving the heart of the issue if girls are now WANTING and TRYING to get pregnant. How have we come so far.....and more importantly how do we fix it?