UNINTENDED VERSUS INTENDED PREGNANCY
More than 90% of 15- to 19-year-olds (and half of all adults) describe their pregnancies as being unintended. More than half of unintended adolescent pregnancies end in induced or spontaneous abortion,43,44 compared with 35% of adolescent pregnancies overall.21 On the other hand, some adolescent pregnancies are intended, and some young women are motivated to become pregnant and have children. Similar to adults, adolescents give many reasons for wanting to have children; the reason that some adolescents are motivated to be mothers at an early age is unclear.1 Recent data suggest that many young women are ambivalent about becoming pregnant, and this is associated with less consistent and less effective contraceptive use.45