Legacy Adoption Services

I’m Pregnant

I’m pregnant. Unplanned pregnancies are far more common in the United States than most people realize.

Roughly 1 in 2 pregnancies are unplanned – that’s 50 percent. That means that half of all the women who get pregnant in America either did not want to get pregnant at that time or did not want to get pregnant at all.

The results of an unplanned pregnancy affect many aspects of a women’s life and these consequences can follow her throughout her life.

Not only do unplanned pregnancies result in higher school dropout rates but also higher unemployment and a greater chance for the need for welfare in the woman’s future.

According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 89 percent of female students will graduate from high school before the age of 22. However, that percentage falls to only 51 percent if they give birth during their teenage years. And of the teen moms who do graduate from high school only 2 percent finish college by the age of 30. But this doesn’t just affect teen moms; teen fathers also have a 25 to 30 percent lower probability of graduating from high school as well. This is a huge concern since the United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the developed world; with approximately 3 in 10 girls becoming pregnant before the age of 20.

Since an unplanned pregnancy can put a halt to education it can make it much harder to obtain a good job in the future.

If a teen mom is unable to finish her education, she would not be able to obtain a college degree, which is becoming increasingly important in today’s job market. A college degree opens up more job opportunities with higher salaries and greater job security. On average, a person with a college degree will earn $1 million more than a high school dropout over the course of their lifetime.

In addition to this, approximately 25 percent of teen moms who do not finish high school will end up on welfare within 3 years. They are more likely to live in poverty and need government assistance from programs like Medicaid, HUD, Food Stamps, and WIC just to cover their basic necessities. All of these things can have a lifelong impact on a women’s future and overall quality of life. Adoption can often be an excellent choice for young women facing an unplanned pregnancy. It can help them continue on with their education and future careers and live the life they had always imagined for themselves.