XX Factor: the blog

Pregnant Pause

16 and Pregnant has been appointment television for me since I reviewed it for Double X's “Xxtra Small” and was thrilled to learn it’s been picked up for a second season. But like Jess, I find myself wondering whether the show will keep any teens from becoming moms. I suppose the National Campaign To Reduce Teen and Unwanted Pregnancy, which helped produce the series (get used to these sorts of nonprofit/TV partnerships), would measure success by whether more teens get intimately familiar with contraception and, for the love of god, use it correctly. The show’s teen stars are utterly thick-headed about family planning. One couple claims conception happened after they used a condom that had been through the wash; another baby came about because of that oldest excuse—the young dad just doesn’t like condoms.

Some critics have faulted the show for not presenting abortion as an option, but I have to agree with 16 and Pregnant’s decision—for one thing, it might not be safe for a teen to go through an abortion on national television; for another, it’d be hard to fill an hourlong show. One option 16 and Pregnant did present, with the season’s final couple, was adoption. Tyler and Catelynn are stepsiblings: His dad and her mom met and married after the kids started dating. Tyler’s dad spent significant periods of time in jail; Catelynn’s mother battled some vaguely referred to “problems” (I’m guessing of a substance-abuse nature). Despite pressure from their parents to keep the baby—Tyler’s dad says he thinks his son should “man up,” because “all a baby needs is love”—the young couple selects a picture-perfect adoptive couple for their daughter. The show makes it clear that adoption is not the easy solution—Tyler and Catelynn cry buckets of tears before, as, and after they hand over their little girl. But perhaps the constant refrain of how this is the best thing for the baby and for the teenagers will sink in. Or, at the very least, maybe couples who decide to keep their babies will go in with their eyes a little more open.

Photograph by Getty Images.

Comments

Has anyone heard of the

By: angelag | Wed, 09/30/2009 - 05:04

Has anyone heard of the pregnant woman pregnant again? It sounds far fetched – but it's possible. Julia Grovenburg has been confirmed as being the pregnant woman pregnant again – and it isn't twins. Doctors noticed a second fetal sac and heartbeat during an ultrasound, and checked it out. The process is called superfetation, where a woman has a second menstrual cycle after beginning pregnancy, and the second ovum is fertilized. There are only 10 confirmed cases, and the babies will be born a few weeks apart. The pregnant woman pregnant again will now experience the joy of childbirth twice in a month's time, and need twice the payday loans to cover the hospital costs. With situations like this, we should always make sure that we have excessive money in our pocket. But don’t worry, because if you are in financial mess and you don’t have enough money to pay the hospital bill, you can always get payday loan to help you.

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Actually, MTV did show an abortion

By: sjneal | Fri, 07/24/2009 - 10:24

One of the women on Real World LA, I think, had an abortion and was incredibly open about the whole process. I remember watching it with friends and hoping no one would hunt her down for for it. They could just re-run that episode if they didn't want to do a new one.

impressing episode

By: juliettelucie | Fri, 07/24/2009 - 10:08

Like igardner, I watched some episodes of 16 and pregnant, including the one with Catelynn and Tyler. I was imrpessed by how mature and strong they were, and how they showed that giving their daughter for adoption was the most loving thing they could do.
I found myself crying several times during that episode (as oppsed to a lot of head-shaking during the tohers). The irony is, the seemed to be the ones the most likely to create a strong household for their child, of all the couples presented.
You cannot help but pray they will have a beautiful life and go to college like they want afterwards. This is a must-watch:
http://www.mtv.com/videos/16-and-pregnant-ep6-catelynn/1615511/playlist....

I disagree that they could not be realistic about abortion

By: george | Thu, 07/23/2009 - 21:38

I've seen that written many times, even about Juno. That the journey and experience of abortion cannot fill film time. First of all, the MTV special didn't fill the time with just one girl. Second, there really isn't anything teens need more than a realistic coverage of the abortion option. They most likely won't get accurate information anywhere else, and never hear what the experience of choosing one is like.

I think that, instead, there is such an anti-feminist pressure to never show an abortion except as punishment. The heroine has an abortion, but turns up unhappy and suicides...the heroine has an abortion, but it ruins all her relationships...the heroine has an abortion, but is punished and is never allowed to smile again. It's pretty outrageous that you're saying that a young woman who chooses not to be a mother is so uninteresting that she couldn't fill some time on film. Like there is no plot, and a young woman is not worth rating a story to be told if she doesn't choose pregnancy.

On the contrary, you could go through the young woman's decision beforehand, her experience during, and her changed vision of her life, not only for her, but for those around her. Her friends, family, boys...everything. And how does it feel to take control of her life at a young age? We never get to hear these stories and it's worth a documentary. As a feminist, I'd say THAT is worth film and it's a lack of imagination and vision to say it couldn't fill frames.

If we can have movies like Juno to show it is not the end of the world to continue a teen pregnancy, we should show the same for abortion. MTV will show gay teens and transsexual teens and all sorts of choices that might "endanger their lives if they are outed", but if they make a reality show about options in teen pregnancy, it's not real and it's not courageous unless they show abortion.

Here we are in 2009 and still dealing with witch burnings.

The most solid relationship

By: igardner | Thu, 07/23/2009 - 18:25

I think I've seen almost all the episodes of "16 and Pregnant", and I have to say that of all the relationships portrayed over the season, the relationship between Tyler and Catelynn seemed like the only one that might have a chance of lasting -- odd, since they are logically the ones with the smallest reason for staying together (i.e., there's no longer a child involved in their lives). It might be that the show was edited together to give this impression, or perhaps it's the fact that they didn't have to do 2 am feedings together, but they seemed to be more supportive of each other, more affectionate, and Tyler came off as less of a tool than the other fathers. Again, it could just be the editing, but I have to think that perhaps a couple mature enough to know they're not old enough, strong enough or in any position to raise a child, is probably going to be the one best able to navigate the trickiness of sharing some kind of life together.