Why do teenagers (males and females) these days want to have babies in their early ages such as 20's? (weeks, years) - - City-Data Forum

Blackandgold51 · 11-01-2011, 05:24 AM

Don't they know the hardships of having a child? Especially the way the world is today.

They should know that raising a child takes a lot of hard work and patience with lots of energy, and is expensive. Why don't they enjoy their lives now and wait later on when their really ready?

And thanks to T.V. "reality shows" like Teen Mom, teenagers girls want to do the same by getting pregnant early.

JustJulia · 11-01-2011, 05:40 AM

What's wrong with having children in your 20s? It's quite common, actually. Teen pregnancies are down, not up, indicating that more young people are waiting, but I don't think it's reasonable or even a particularly good idea to expect everyone to wait until their 30s and 40s to have kids.

Bakeneko · 11-01-2011, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackandgold51

Don't they know the hardships of having a child? Especially the way the world is today.

They should know that raising a child takes a lot of hard work and patience with lots of energy, and is expensive. Why don't they enjoy their lives now and wait later on when their really ready?

And thanks to T.V. "reality shows" like Teen Mom, teenagers girls want to do the same by getting pregnant early.

Actaully, everything I've read is that teenage pregnancy is down and that they are , in part, a result of reality programming according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

I was on bedrest for my entire pregnancy so I ended up watching alot of shows I never would have in my "real" life.... Anyway, I caught this show a couple times and it does a pretty good job of showing how exhausting having a baby is and how "reliable" some of the teen dads are ( I never caught an episode where the dad really stepped up).

Blackandgold51 · 11-01-2011, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustJulia

What's wrong with having children in your 20s? It's quite common, actually. Teen pregnancies are down, not up, indicating that more young people are waiting, but I don't think it's reasonable or even a particularly good idea to expect everyone to wait until their 30s and 40s to have kids.

I'm not saying that I "expect" everyone in their late-teens or EARLY 20's to not have a baby. What I'm saying is that they should make a WISE decision about what they are doing, or else they'll be asking themselves the question and that question will be "Why did I do this?" or "What I was thinking?"

crankywithakeyboard · 11-02-2011, 09:09 AM

Heck, these days I am fairly impressed when anyone waits to have a child until their 20s. They are adults.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackandgold51

Don't they know the hardships of having a child? Especially the way the world is today.

They should know that raising a child takes a lot of hard work and patience with lots of energy, and is expensive. Why don't they enjoy their lives now and wait later on when their really ready?

And thanks to T.V. "reality shows" like Teen Mom, teenagers girls want to do the same by getting pregnant early.

JustJulia · 11-02-2011, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackandgold51

I'm not saying that I "expect" everyone in their late-teens or EARLY 20's to not have a baby. What I'm saying is that they should make a WISE decision about what they are doing, or else they'll be asking themselves the question and that question will be "Why did I do this?" or "What I was thinking?"

Maybe. I think you overestimate the number of people throughout history who sat down and carefully planned when they were going to have children.

43north87west · 11-02-2011, 09:16 AM

There are advantages to raising kids starting in the early twenties. It's a financial struggle, but people who are not reckless with money can make it work. I would never have kids anymore; I'd probably die with them still living at home. But someone who has kids in the early 20s, could have an empty nest by 45 or 50. That's pretty good.

emerald_octane · 11-02-2011, 10:28 PM

I'm 22, my GF of 5 years is 20 and we just found out that she's 2 (yes, two) weeks pregnant. In the last three days, we've already worked with our bank on getting our finances in order, a will is being drawn up, health insurance ( not medicade

) is good for the both of us as well . I'm finishing college this semester after working full time for the past 6 mo in a managerial position (also was the youngest person working for a fortune 500 company @ 18) and all of my worldly possessions can fit in a 5x5 storage unit (except the car; paid off) - my credit score is in the low 700's, no lates.

I don't think we'll have it easy (is it ever?) but we're trying our hardest to make sure things work out. We certainly didn't mean for it to happen, but lets not pretend that older moms/parents are always the best either. Don't believe me? In October a 33 year old mom sold her newborn son so she could have the money to take her other kids to disneyland.

*shrug*

Sweetbottoms · 11-03-2011, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackandgold51

Don't they know the hardships of having a child? Especially the way the world is today.

They should know that raising a child takes a lot of hard work and patience with lots of energy, and is expensive. Why don't they enjoy their lives now and wait later on when their really ready?

And thanks to T.V. "reality shows" like Teen Mom, teenagers girls want to do the same by getting pregnant early.

I had my daughter when I was 27.. fairly late imo considering my gf had 3 by my age, my sister had her first at 22 and most of my friends were already going through terrible twos when I was in labor. I think society as a whole are having kids later than they were before . I remember stories from my great grandmother saying she was late to marry and have children at the age of 16 most of her friends had already started a family. Having a kid is hard yes, its expensive yes but it doesn't last forever (usually).. My child will also be out of the house when I'm in my 40's-50's so I can enjoy my latter years and do the things I will hopefully have the means to do like travel that I don't have the means for right now being in my 20's and more or less starting in the workforce. Also having a child early has its advantages with more energy and ability to handle a child with such energy

90sman · 11-03-2011, 11:54 AM

In your 20s, your body is in better shape to carry a baby for pregnancy, you have more energy to take care, run and play with your kids, and it's easier to function with less sleep than if you were older. Other benefits are you're younger than yourself when your kids grow up, then you become a young grandparent too. Most people I know have become grandparents in their 40s. Even in your 40s, you have your whole life ahead of you and you'll see your grand kids grow up, leading you to being alive when you have great grand kids.

Would you really want to be raising teenagers in your 50s and 60s when you could be a grandparent?

I'm 18 and ideally, I'd like to start a family when I'm around 22 or 23. I want to be a young dad and be young when my kids grow up. My mom was 31 and my dad was 30 when they had and I always wished they'd me when they were younger because it difficult for my mother to take care of me and her mother at the same time. Plus, my Grandpa passed away when I was only 14 and my Grandma just passed away 10 months ago. So the neither of them saw me graduate high school, start college and they won't be at my wedding when I get married. If my parents had me at a younger age, my grandparents might have been alive to see me do these things.