We've all seen the dozens of magazine covers with yet another pregnant celebrity proudly showing off her "baby bump," and we remember the quirky one-liners from Juno like "your eggo is preggo."
However, with teen and young adult pregnancy on the rise, Hollywood seems to be sending the message that it's not such a bad situation to be in.
"More than blaming Hollywood, although I think that's a legitimate part of it, I think we need to look at the parents who aren't talking to their kids anymore about these issues," said Bethany Garth, who works at Women's Hope Medical Clinic, a faith-based, nonprofit pregnancy resource center. "Kids are reading on the Internet, and they're going to find the answers to their questions somewhere. Parents aren't stepping up and doing their role in educating their own children. I think that's really what's lead us into a very sexually promiscuous society, and it's just getting younger and younger. We get 12 and 15-year-olds."
Elizabeth Snipes, a sophomore in pre-pharmacy, said it's as if the press is suggesting being a parent at an early age is acceptable regardless of marital status.
"I think there are certain situations that make this OK," Snipes said. "But overall I think the pregnancy hype that celebrities are contributing to is negative."
This year in Alabama one in six females will be a teen mother, and the numbers continue to rise according to the Alabama Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
In the most recent ranking of states, Alabama placed 35th in the nation with a pregnancy rate of 90 in the population of girls between the ages of 15 to 19.
"I think they are glamorizing pregnancy out of wedlock which can have both positive and negative effects on society," said Ansley Mendenhall, a junior in French and international trade. "On the one hand, I hope it encourages more women who become pregnant to keep the child. On the other hand, it seems to encourage pregnancy in general, and young women may not realize how difficult it is to raise a child."
In 2008, the Women's Hope Clinic administered pregnancy tests to 866 young women.
Ten of those young women were in junior high school, 138 were in high school and 562 were in college.
"What's coming through our doors as far as students go, it's pretty hoppin'," Garth said.
Garth also said the clinic offers free and confidential pregnancy testing, free STD testing, free parenting education classes and a post-abortion recovery group for women who have had trouble dealing with it and want to find some level of healing.
"Students can come somewhere like this, and I know a lot of students do come here because it's not going to show up on mom and dad's insurance," Garth said. "If you're struggling and you're in a crisis situation some people will want to go to their parents, but a lot of people want to work things out and think through it before they talk to their parents. So, we offer a place where they can come in privacy and talk things out with someone who is trained to help them in this situation. It gives them an opportunity to really process."
When a test does come back positive, Garth said their job is to find out how the person feels physically, emotionally and spiritually.
"Are your parents going to freak out on you?" Garth said. "Is your boyfriend, fiance, husband, in or out? What is your situation? How can we help you? Then we give them resources and referrals to help them move forward."
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