Unwanted pregnancies - why so many?

When I was young the girls I knew who got pregnant were not the ones who were at it hammer and tongs, they were the idealistic ones who were taken by surprise at how enthusiastic they were for the physical side of love, as opposed to the romantic haze.

I would guess that two things are operating:

- being a Mum gives status to girls who have lost out in the education system.

- some young girls drift into sex in a romantic haze, and using contraception is just a bit too calculated and implies intention.

I suspect there is a very strong drive in young women to get pregnant, whether they are aware of it or not. "Failed" contraception can happen because subconsciously they don't really want it to succeed. Logic about the reality of the possible problems doesn't come into the equation.

I really don't know the answer to this granjura except that perhaps some people are not honest with themselves maybe or are ambivalent about parenthood. An American research survey (Guttmacher Institute) found a strong sense of fatalism and ambivalence among young unmarried women. They found that 44 percent of women surveyed agree or strongly agree with the statement, "It doesn't matter whether you use birth control or not; when it is your time to get pregnant it will happen." Furthermore, among those who reported that it is important for them to avoid pregnancy right now, almost a third say that they would be pleased if they found out today that they were pregnant.

Thanks Annie- actually this is not what I was asking about- but about the very many who do choose to go on and have the baby, but say it was a mistake (in the current case, her words were 'shit happens' which I find sad).

Because we now have abortion on demand but never speak of it as such