ABSTRACT

The term “teenage pregnancy” emerged in middle-class America in the 1970s (Hacking 1999). At the same time, teenage pregnancy, which had been defined as a private problem, was reconstructed as a public problem (Addelson 1999). A greater stigma became attached to teen pregnancy, especially among minorities (Addelson 1999), and the “good girl” who had made a mistake came to be viewed as promiscuous. Kelly (2000) argues that teen mothers have served as scapegoats for negative social trends (such as poverty), and have been stereotyped as “stupid sluts,” rebels, the product of dysfunctional homes, irresponsible, dropouts, and neglectful mothers. Naturally, teen pregnancy occurred at a significant rate before the 1970s, but, when the way society defined teen pregnancy changed, teenagers and their families were expected to change their responses to the pregnancy. As a private problem, pregnancies were something to be ashamed of and hidden. Many teenagers simply married before the child was born, or went into seclusion while pregnant (living in a home for unmarried mothers or with a relative) and ultimately gave the child up for adoption. In more recent times, adoption has become much rarer, with only 5 percent of teenagers giving their babies up for adoption in 1992 (Custer 1993). More current statistics are not available because 1992 was the last year that systematic, national data on adoptions were collected (National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, 2005) in the USA.