Briana's PAA

Does the Absence of a Biological Father Make Teen Girls at Higher Risk for Pregnancy?

My father and mother got divorced when I was six, I didn’t have a very strong relationship with my Father until adulthood. We would go to visit him in Butte; I never wanted to go and always fought it. Honestly I don’t really even have any memories of my father until I was about 10 or so years old. He just wasn’t a part of my history.

When I was 17 I found out I was pregnant. I battled with whether or not I could have the baby and provide it, her as it would turn out, with the life she deserved. Eventually I decided to give her up for adoption. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I regret it daily. I often wondered if there was a reason outside of myself that this whole situation came to be. I wondered if there could be another reason why I got pregnant and none of my peers had yet. I came across an article once that said something about young girls being at a higher risk to become pregnant due to an absent father. As an adult I still found myself pondering the likely hood that the fact that my father was MIA during my upbringing could have anything to do with my getting pregnant so young. At first I did not think that there could really be a connection between an absent father and a teenage pregnancy.

               During my research I found the article “Does Father Absence Place Daughters at Special Risk for Early Sexual Activity and Teenage Pregnancy?" written by Bruce J. Ellis.  It talks about that an absent father creates added stress to the family and can be linked to early sexual activity and teenage pregnancy. This article uses many studies done America and New Zealand to make its argument that the younger a girl is when her father leaves the picture the more likely she is to be sexually active at a young age. Ellis states, “adolescent pregnancy rates were approximately  7 times higher in the U.S. sample and 8 times higher in the New Zealand sample among early father-absent girls than among father present girls" (811).

               This article informed me that an absent father has been scientifically proven to be linked to early pregnancy in teens. It makes me want to research further and find out more about the psychology behind the phenomena.