Xinhua News Agency correspondent Zhang Tuo
For 14-year-old Mexican teenager Ana, her childhood has long since gone. When she was less than 13 years old, she became pregnant. Her life has changed dramatically since then. Currently, Ana, who is still in middle school, has to continue her studies while taking care of her child, who is less than a year old.
In Mexico, Ana is just one member of the "teenage mom" group. Mexican official statistics show that in 2014, 37.4 million girls between the ages of 10 and 19 years old became mothers, of which 6,000 were under the age of 14, and there are even 10-year-old "doll mothers.
Related data show that in Mexico, about one-fifth of newborns each year are born to mothers who are minors. In the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Mexico is the highest percentage of underage pregnancies. And Mexico also tops such rankings by the Inter-American Development Bank.
Mexican society, influenced by Catholicism, has a low tolerance for abortion. Once a young girl becomes pregnant, she is forced to become a mother at an early age. In addition, in the traditional concept of Mexicans, motherhood and family are the ultimate destiny of women, so when a teenage girl gets pregnant, she often chooses to give birth to the child. In many cases, the same young "other half" lacks both the responsibility and the ability to raise the child, leading to the formation of a large group of single mothers.
Anna is one of the more fortunate of the "teenage moms". Because of her family's financial situation, she was able to continue her studies while raising her children. However, most teenage mothers are not as lucky as Anna.
Ara, 34, is the mother of two daughters, the eldest of whom is 18. When Ala was 15, her boyfriend impregnated her and then abandoned her after two years of living together and impregnating her again. Forced to drop out of school, Ara now earns a living by cleaning houses, earning only 4,000 pesos (about 1,500 yuan) a month, making life very difficult.
Save the Children, an international organization, reports that poverty, poor education, inadequate sex education, domestic violence, and single-parent upbringing are the main factors contributing to the increase in teenage pregnancies. Currently, the issue of underage pregnancy and childbirth has become a difficult problem that hinders Mexico's economic and social development.
First of all, underage pregnancy is not conducive to the realization of the goal of poverty reduction. The Inter-American Development Bank expert Beggs said that pregnant teenagers often give up their studies and therefore lose the opportunity for their own development. According to the United Nations Population Fund, in order to avoid falling into poverty, Mexicans need at least 11 years of education. However, the reality is that in Mexico, 17.7 percent of pregnant teenagers under the age of 18 drop out of school, while 30.7 percent of pregnant teenagers under the age of 15 drop out.
Like Ala, many "teenage mothers" choose to give up school and work for a pittance to support their children, and poverty has become an inescapable reality for them. In more extreme cases, those who have little ability to work and no family support can only take their children to the streets to beg. It is not uncommon to see very young "teenage mothers" carrying their babies on their backs in crowded places such as subways and stations.
Carlos, a professor at the Center for Sociological Research at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said, "Underage pregnancies already occur more often in poor areas and families, and children who are teenage mothers are likely to follow the same path, leading to a constant cycle of poverty."
Secondly, early pregnancy poses a threat to the health of minors and is detrimental to population development. The World Health Organization identifies all pregnancies under the age of 18 as high-risk because it can lead to underdeveloped babies with physical or mental defects. For their part, teenage mothers face a high risk of giving birth, as well as the risk of encountering obstacles to their own growth and development later in life. Data show that in recent years there has been a significant increase in maternal deaths among minors in Mexico, and in 2014, 13.9 percent of maternal deaths occurred among minors.
The Mexican government has realized the seriousness of the problem of "teenage mothers", launched a national plan to prevent teenage pregnancy, specific measures include expanding the scope of sex education, publicity and education on the negative consequences of early pregnancy, sexual and reproductive health services for minors, prevention and attention to sexual violence among minors. sexual violence among minors, and so on.
Save the Children recommends that the Mexican government pay more attention to the group of "teenage mothers" and strengthen the protection of the rights and interests of minors, for example, by setting up a special budget for the prevention of teenage pregnancies and guaranteeing that the earliest age of marriage authorized by all civil statutes is 18 years old, among other things.
The Mexican government plans to reduce the number of teenage mothers between the ages of 10 and 14 to zero by 2030, and reduce the number of teenage mothers between the ages of 15 and 19 to half of the number in 2014. (End)