Options for Teenage Pregnancy: Carrying to Term and Raising the Child Together

Susie, a seventeen year old girl is a worried lot having missed her periods. She thinks she is pregnant having dated Joel for about a year. Being a teenager and suspecting that she is expectant, Susie is scared and confused. Using the POOCH model, we will explore four options and decide on the best course of action that Susie should follow.

Sexual Health Relationships
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Teenage pregnancy is a global concern both in the socio-economic and health fronts. In our
current case, Susie, a seventeen year old girl is a worried lot having missed her periods. She
thinks she is pregnant having dated Joel for about a year. Being a teenager and suspecting that
she is expectant, Susie is scared and confused. They obviously did not plan for the pregnancy. It
is important that Susie notifies Joel and plan to go for a pregnancy test to ascertain whether she is
expecting or not. It is important that Susie begins to seek advice on pregnancy early to enable her
examine her options. Using the POOCH model, we will explore four options and decide on the
best course of action that Susie should follow.
The first option Susie should consider is carrying the pregnancy to term and raise the child
together with her partner, Joel. Scientists have argued that children raised by both parents tend to
develop faster and better compared to those raised by single parents1. This has been associated to
increased multiplication of brain cells during the infancy stage of children raised by both mothers
and fathers. For this option to yield optimal outcomes, it is imperative that Joel is fully on board.
However, since Joel’s age is not disclosed, it is difficult to determine his cooperation to ensure
that this option yields the optimal outcomes. As such, Joel’s cooperation or lack thereof, in
taking care of pregnancy to term are the first outcomes. Joel’s support will be beneficial in
ensuring that Susie does not miss important antennal care and any necessary medical care
required. Studies have revealed that teen mothers are at higher risk of complications during the
pregnancy and child birth accompanied by postnatal stress2. As such, Joel’s participation in
1 Samerojf, Arnold J., W. Todd Bartko, Alfred Baldwin, Clare Baldwin, and Ronald Seifer.
"Family and social influences on the development of child competence." In Families, risk, and
competence, pp. 171-196. Routledge, 2014.
2 Leigh, Bronwyn, and Jeannette Milgrom. "Risk factors for antenatal depression, postnatal
depression and parenting stress." BMC psychiatry 8, no. 1 (2008): 24.

raising the pregnancy and taking care of the baby are instrumental to averting such undesirable
outcomes. In the event that Joel denies any responsibility, Susie may end up carrying the
pregnancy to term and raising the child on her own or give out the child for adoption. She may
also end up terminating the pregnancy before term.
A lady’s resolve to become a mother is habitually rooted in an assortment of cultural and societal
constructs; nonetheless, the face of childrearing and family has transformed in Australia and
many other parts of the world. People have a rich diversity of arrangements to choose from is
raising their inborn, single parenting being among the top options. This has had been, in part,
attributed to the rising acceptance of single parenting as well as other forms of diverse family
arrangements. ‘Traditional ‘family type of parenting notwithstanding, generally women faces
numerous hurdles in raising their children. Consequently, it is essential that women and their
children receive adequate social and economic support from all sorts of place including the
government, non-governmental entities, families and individuals.
Susie may also explore the option carrying the pregnancy to term and taking care of the baby as a
single mother especially if Joel is unwilling. This option has many outcomes, both immediate
and long term. Some of the immediate outcomes include a low birth weight infant and low Apgar
score associated to inadequate care3. In the long run, poor health, less schooling and minimal
earnings in adulthood is likely to be some of the undesirable outcomes should Susie opt to carry
the pregnancy to term and raise the child on her own4. Without a better support system both
3 Hayes, Cheryl D. Risking the future: Adolescent sexuality, pregnancy, and childbearing. Vol. 1,
no. 2. National Academies, 1987.
4 MacCallum, Fiona, and Susan Golombok. "Children raised in fatherless families from infancy:
a follow‐up of children of lesbian and single heterosexual mothers at early adolescence." Journal
of child psychology and psychiatry 45, no. 8 (2004): 1407-1419.

financially and socially, this option is likely to be very difficult for Susie to raise her child and be
able to attend to her studies. It will require the cooperation of her family and school to ensure
that her studies do not come to complete cessation.
Although adoption is one of the least undertaken options for unplanned pregnancies in
Australia5, it is imperative that it is discussed with Susie. Carrying the pregnancy to term and
giving the newborn away for adoption is another possible option Susie may opt to undertake.
Some of the outcomes here may include Susie getting nice adoptive parents for her unborn child.
It will give Susie a chance to resume her studies and re-evaluate unprotected intercourse with
Joel. This will also give the infant a better chance of survival, improved health and schooling. In
a study conducted by Fagan 2002, the results revealed that children adopted at infancy had
improved health status in addition to improved grades compared to those adopted at later stages
of life6. This was attributed to early bonding and care given at infancy. On the other hand, the
adopted child may struggle with identity development and more prone to anti-social behaviour
and even feel out of place compare to intact families.
Abortion among teenagers has dropped from 16 in every 1000 women in 2012 to 11 in 2018.
Although not clearly marked as legal, termination of pregnancy is permissible is certain
circumstances in Australia. If the attending doctors deem that the physical and mental health of a
pregnant woman is threatened, abortion can be procured7. It is important that doctors do a
thorough assessment on Susie with regards to all and every situation directly or indirectly
5 Michelson, J. "33. WHAT WOMEN WANT WHEN FACED WITH AN UNPLANNED
PREGNANCY." Sexual Health 4, no. 4 (2007): 297-297.
6 Fagan, Patrick F. "Adoption works well: A synthesis of the literature." Work 7 (2002):
7 Nouhjah, Sedigheh, Fereshteh Zamani-Alavijeh, Akbar Babaei Heydarabadi, and Maedeh
Hozaili. 2017

associated with the pregnancy can threaten her physical and mental wellbeing8. For example if it
turns out that Joel is unwilling to become a father and that the parents are not ready to offer their
support to Susie, she is likely to be stressed out. If she goes for this option, one the outcomes is
successful termination of pregnancy. However, successful termination or not, it always followed
by some level of mental anguish.
Well, all the options discussed herein do have merits and demerits. However, carrying the
pregnancy to term and raising the child together seems to outweigh the remaining three options.
As noted earlier, Susie will need to share with Joel; they team up together and put their resources
together in anticipation of the parenting journey a head of them. Sometimes it takes more than
resources to raise a child. All that Susie and Joel need is to love their unborn child with all they
have got and the rest shall fall in place in due time.
Bibliography
8 Marino, Jennifer L., and Susan M. Sawyer. "Monitoring the missing half: why reporting
adolescent births is insufficient." Medical Journal of Australia 210, no. 5 (2019): 198-201.

1Samerojf, Arnold J., W. Todd Bartko, Alfred Baldwin, Clare Baldwin, and Ronald Seifer.
"Family and social influences on the development of child competence." In Families, risk, and
competence, pp. 171-196. Routledge, 2014.
2Leigh, Bronwyn, and Jeannette Milgrom. "Risk factors for antenatal depression, postnatal
depression and parenting stress." BMC psychiatry 8, no. 1 (2008): 24.
3Hayes, Cheryl D. Risking the future: Adolescent sexuality, pregnancy, and childbearing. Vol. 1,
no. 2. National Academies, 1987.
4MacCallum, Fiona, and Susan Golombok. "Children raised in fatherless families from infancy: a
follow‐up of children of lesbian and single heterosexual mothers at early adolescence." Journal
of child psychology and psychiatry 45, no. 8 (2004): 1407-1419.
5Michelson, J. "33. WHAT WOMEN WANT WHEN FACED WITH AN UNPLANNED
PREGNANCY." Sexual Health 4, no. 4 (2007): 297-297.
6Fagan, Patrick F. "Adoption works well: A synthesis of the literature." Work 7 (2002): 31.
Steinberg, Laurence. "We know some things: Parent–adolescent relationships in retrospect and
prospect." Journal of research on adolescence 11, no. 1 (2001): 1-19.
7Nouhjah, Sedigheh, Fereshteh Zamani-Alavijeh, Akbar Babaei Heydarabadi, and Maedeh
Hozaili. "Which outcomes do women expect to achieve after undergoing induced
abortion." Electronic physician 9, no. 2 (2017): 3741.
8Marino, Jennifer L., and Susan M. Sawyer. "Monitoring the missing half: why reporting
adolescent births is insufficient." Medical Journal of Australia 210, no. 5 (2019): 198-201.