Teenage girls in distress

In young women under 18 years, abortion is the result of more than two pregnancies: 6000 minor so decide every year to abortion. Among teens, unintended pregnancies are actually the contraceptive accidents, a hazardous contraception or no contraception at all.

"When I learned I was pregnant, the idea of ​​keeping did not come to mind." Sophie, 18 years and high school in Paris is sure she made the right choice, there are just a year: "Keep a child when you're 17, it's only decide to raise or make your life with a love of youth. I could envisage neither one nor the other solutions. Adolescence, it does not live with a baby in her arms, but with lovers, friends and the right to irresponsibility. I really want a child, but I do not want to do it lightly. "

"It can not happen to me"
Teenagers know the different ways to protect themselves but think that the risk is for the others: "I used to think, like all my girlfriends that it could not happen to me," recalls Sophie recognizes still have Unprotected sex: "Last time, I immediately took the morning after pill ...". A serious contraceptive project is more easily compatible with "adolescent behavior makes testing and risk behaviors." *Teen sexuality, taboo
The relationships that Sophie has with her mother allowed her to not be alone with this unwanted pregnancy and the decision to end it. "She was with me throughout this story: when I took the test during the preliminary interview ... I know now that I was very lucky." The absence of dialogue with parents plunges very many girls in deep distress. This afraid to face the gaze of adults is also one of the main reasons for the belated recognition of these pregnancies and, in the most serious cases, exceeded the legal time of abortion: "For a girl say, "I'm pregnant" is actually saying "I slept." When love relationships were never discussed at home, it's a shame sometimes insurmountable, "said Martine Leroy, Family Planning Nantes. "While sex is everywhere present in our consumer society, youth sexuality, it is a taboo subject, including, I would say especially in families from all social classes. Minor in Pregnancies are often perceived by parents as an attack on family integrity ". These are the girls who generally collect confidences: "Because they know I have the experience, my girlfriends and my cousin come to me when they have missed a period or when they were the love with nothing. With them, they are only dealing with these problems. "Priority to prevention
In this context, the lifting of the parental authorization requested for years by many doctors, associations or unions, and provided in the new law on abortion, will facilitate the course of hundreds of young girls.
But the essence remains for field workers, information and prevention, within and outside the school environment: "Information too rare and too theoretical is received by teenagers, but they do not know how to use it in their daily life, their own body. This shift is often the cause of unwanted pregnancies. It should set up discussion groups where teens can discuss concrete experiences, "concludes Martine Leroy.
When asked Sophie if her abortion sequelae left him psychologically or emotionally, she said: "I do not regret, but there is one thing I wish I know if my baby was a girl or boy ... "