The Gloucester Girls (pregnancy pact)

[PrincessKitty1]

I am having some wild and crazy thoughts about this situation. I readily admit I am one of the millions of people shaking my head over the idea of a bunch of high school girls purposely getting pregnant.

But I wish I could fly through the time-space continuum and end up, oh, 25 years from now, and read the interviews with the Gloucester moms and their (now adult) kids. Will they be talking about how wonderful it was to have a community that's like an extended family? Will the moms talk about how much support they got from and gave to the other moms? Will the kids be talking about the number of warm, lifelong friendships they developed?

Or will it be the usual timeworn tales of broken families, poverty-stricken moms, and abused, neglected, discarded children?

There's not a lot of support for single working-class moms, period. I'm curious if this will take a positive turn and become a way of people supporting each other emotionally in a fragmented world.

 

[sunnyday123]

From what I read, it sounded like they got pregnant because they wanted something to love. It's sad really, but no one really makes good decisions when they're 17.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Sometimes bad decisions turn out really well, though. I have a co-worker in mid-40s who has a 31 year old daughter (she got pregnant at 14), a son in his late 20s (another result of teen pregnancy ), and a son who is 18. Her husband also has grown kids (they have 5 or 6 between them). My co-worker seems to be really, really close to her kids and grandkids (yup, grandkids!). I'm wondering (and hoping) that this could be the case for the Gloucester girls.

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

but no one really makes good decisions when they're 17.

I'd say the decision NOT to have sex at that age (or at least use birth control) is a good decision. Maybe things are different now than they were when I was growing up, but I remember being in HS and thinking that all the guys I knew were way too immature. If I couldn't picture them as the father of my child, they didn't get past first base with me.

 

[christineann]

How will they support these babies financially? The news reported that most of these girls are high school SOPHOMORES, so how many of these girls are actually going to finish high school? This is very disturbing and sad, especially for the babies.

 

[sraiford]

Wonder who the 17 fathers are?

 

[CraftyMouse]

Wonder who the 17 fathers are?

The article that I read said that one of the fathers is a 24yo homeless man. Other than that the article focused on the girls. They didn't give any more details on the boys/men.

 

[Ariel Wanna-be]

Anyone have a link?

And is this Gloucester, MA? Where the "Perfect Storm" guys were from?

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Yes, and yes.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=5210525&page=1

 

[stacym]

The whole thing is very sad! As one of the OP mentioned, who is financially responsible for all of these children?

 

[GeorgeG]

Too many teenagers just don't understand the real world. They think they do, but they don't.

 

[mommy*RN]

The article said they had to cut some health classes due to funding...yet they have a daycare that holds 7 babies?? Different articles say they talked to different people who were/are teenage mothers. It probably wouldn't have cost them a dime to get those people in to talk about what teenage parenting is like...the ups and downs...sorta the "What to Expect When You're 16 and Pregnant" series...I feel for everyone - the town, the girls and most definitely the babies. Hopefully the people will rally around them and help give those babies a good start to life...

 

[mommy*RN]

Too many teenagers just don't understand the real world. They think they do, but they don't.

So true...at 16 I knew it all...in my 30s I don't know half of it...my mom always warned me!