THINK ON THESE – A mother too soon

HER classmates were caught unaware. She passed them and went straight to the national highway – walking as if she were under the influence of drugs. Everyone screamed when a speeding vehicle came to her way. It was good that the driver was able to stop before he hit her.
At the school principal’s office, she was interrogated. “I am three months pregnant,” said the 17-year-old high school student. The principal was further stunned when he found out that the father was much younger — only 14 years old.
In Western countries like the United States, teen pregnancy may not surprise anyone at all. But in a developing country like the Philippines, it may come as a shock — particularly among priests and religious leaders. “From time to time, we always emphasized that pre-marital sex is morally wrong!” said a Catholic priest.
The 2002 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study by the University of the Philippines Population Institute and the Demographic Research and Development Foundation confirmed the NDHS study. The study showed that 26 percent of Filipino youths around the country from ages 15 to 25 admitted to having a premarital sex experience. What was worse is that 38 percent of these youths were already in a live-in arrangement.
Studies conducted by the World Bank from 2000 to 2003 ranked the Philippines as one of the top 10 countries with an increasing number of teenage mothers. Seven out of 10 Filipina mothers are adolescents; most of them are below 19 years old.
Why do teenagers engage in pre-marital sex? To find out, the Health Action Information Network (HAIN) with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) conducted a survey in seven regions across the country.
The survey – with 4,111 youth respondents — found out that the average age at which first sexual intercourse is experience is 15.7 years old. Males experienced earlier sexual initiation than females (15.5 years vs. 16.7 years). On the average, sexually active adolescents have 3.5 sexual partners.
The HAIN survey found that peer pressure is stronger among males. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable with my friends if I was still a virgin,” said 18-year-old Mark, who had his first sexual experience when he was 15. “I probably couldn’t say anything about sex if I had not experienced it myself.”
The survey showed that most of these youngsters lost their virginity to the person they loved (boyfriend or girlfriend). When asked about the circumstances surrounding their first engagement in sex, more than half (54 percent) said they wanted it to happen at that time, while 38 percent claimed that their first sexual experience just happened.
“My boyfriend asked me if I loved him and I said yes,” said 16-year-old Linda. “He said that if I really loved him, I had to prove it by giving myself to him completely. I didn’t want to lose him so I had to give in to his wishes.” Six months later after “the sex encounter” happened – and pregnant! – he dumped her for another girl.
About 4 percent of the 143 female respondents have been pregnant with the average age of first pregnancy being 17. Among males, 2 percent reported that they have gotten a woman pregnant. “This disparity could mean that women, being the first to know if they are pregnant, are more inclined to admit their condition than boys,” the HAIN report explained. “On the other hand, boys may not be aware that their sexual experiences had resulted in pregnancy.”
Women’s groups are alarmed by the steady increase in teen pregnancies in recent years. “We need to stress that delaying the age of pregnancies are important for them,” Dr. Junice Melgar, Likhaan’s executive director, told Channel News Asia, “not just physically to save their lives because of the risks of early pregnancy, but also economically, because we know that young people who are able to have opportunities are the people who are able to delay sexual engagements, especially having pregnancies.”
According to Guttmacher Institute, a US-based reproductive health think-tank, about 15% of teen pregnancy in the Philippines ends in abortion. Although abortion is illegal, the rate is higher (25 per 1,000 women) compared to the United States where abortion is legal (23 per 1,000 women). “For sure, there are more abortions that happen in our country that are not even reported,” wrote Dr. Rebecca S. Singson in an article which appeared in “Philippine Daily Inquirer.”
“But how did abortion come into the picture?” one teenager asked. “How did abortion even become an option? Fear. Fear of being unaccepted, fear of the unknown, and lots and lots of fear. Will no one stand up and lend an ear to just listen to what these teens are experiencing? Just how many more girls are getting rid of their babies? How many girls die by trying to kill their unborn child? How many babies will have to lose their life because no one listens?”
Pregnancy is not the only consequence of sexual intimacy among teenagers. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are most likely to infect them. Most teenagers are not faithful to their partners. Should one relationship fails, there is always another one. Some girls even claim that they engage in casual sex with acquaintances.
There is also a great risk of catching the dreaded human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the microorganism that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). During the UNICEF’s presentation of the State of the World’s Children, Dr. Eric Tayag reported that in 2010, one out of three HIV patients is from the 15-24 year-old bracket.
In 2006, the Department of Education with support from UNFPA started a sex education program at the primary level but it was met with outrage from the Catholic Church.
“We started the program at the Grade Four level because it is at that age that some girls start to menstruate. The curriculum was more focused on development strategies to cope with the changes their body is undergoing,” explained Jacqueline Kitong, reproductive health adviser in the Philippines for the UN Population Fund.
Roman Catholic Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista of the Diocese of Boac in Marinduque, however, blamed the mass media and the Internet – and their emphasis on sex – for the increased teen pregnancy in the country.
“People from across the county are so exposed to television shows containing disturbing messages and images. And it really has a negative effect on our youth,” he wrote in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website. The Internet, where regulation is almost nil, he said teens can easily find sex-related materials.