The disbelief came first, followed quickly by a heart-palpitating panic, before the realization and acceptance arrived.
“I was shocked at first because I really wasn’t expecting,” said 17-year-old Janelle Stephens, who is two months pregnant. “If I had to choose a better time for this to happen, trust me I would have. But it happened.”
The cheerleading captain is one of the 750,000 young women annually who has become pregnant at least once before age 20, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
Despite millions spent on ad campaigns and abstinence-only programs, for the first time in 15 years the teen birthrate rose, according to government statistics for 2005 to 2006, the most recent numbers available.
