Pregnant at 12 years old. Why such stories happen more and more often in Ukraine

Viktoriia Hubareva

Not so long ago, the news went the round of the Ukrainian media space: in the Chernihiv region, a 12-year-old girl became pregnant. The child's future father is 17.

"I was sitting in the room, went out into the street on a bench to access the Internet when he enters the courtyard. At first, I was embarrassed, blushed, was read like beets. He suggested intercourse. At first, I refused, and then I agreed. I don't know why," 12-year-old pregnant Natalia says.

Natalia found out about pregnancy at 10.5 weeks; the child felt sick at school, and the doctors advised seeing a gynecologist. Then Natalia wanted to have an abortion but changed her mind: the doctors recommended leaving the fetus. The doctors informed the police that a young pregnant girl had come to an appointment; it's a necessary action that they must take in this case. Now Serhii faces a prison sentence: the rape of a person who hasn't reached the age of 14, regardless of voluntary consent, qualifies part 4 of Art. 152 of the Criminal Code and is punishable by incarceration from 10 to 15 years.

The age of sexual consent in Ukraine is 16 years. Any actions of a sexual nature that are committed or incline to them are a criminal offense.

Reason #1 is the lack of parental attention. "If God forbid Serhii leaves, I'll do something to myself," Natalia said to her mother when she wanted to interfere with the relationship of young lovers. Psychologist Daria Nepochatova told Rubryka that girls can often have sex to keep a partner, and boys do that for self-affirmation to prove their adulthood.

"Often, an unfavorable situation in the family can push a teenager to search for sexual adventures in the hope that sexual intercourse will make them happy, give them some kind of feeling of themselves," the specialist explains. She also adds that the early onset of sexual activity is an indicator that a person is psychologically uncomfortable. Everything coincides here: the girl's family has been registered with the Center for Social Services of the Kulikovo Village Council for several years, and according to the director, Larisa Kartseva, the girl's mother led the lifestyle and the child was left without her attention as a result. The social services psychologist drew the same conclusion.

Lack of parental attention, however, isn't the only cause of teenage pregnancy. They can change depending on the age of the child: "A twelve-year-old girl and a fifteen-year-old girl make a big difference. In the first case, we're still dealing with a child, and rather, she was pushed to this by some kind of trouble in the family. And in the second case, the reason may be curiosity, a desire to learn something new, a fantasy about the adult world," the psychologist explains.

Reason # 2 is the lack of sex education. Underage mothers aren't uncommon in Ukraine. For example, in 2020, there were 35 cases of termination of pregnancy among girls under 14 years old, another 538 cases were among girls aged 15-17 years. Not everyone decides to have abortions.

For example, the Chernihiv maternity hospital this year alone was attended by 12 underage women in labor in less than 7 months. According to chief physician Vasyl Husak, 19 girls aged 14 to 17 gave birth in 2019, and last year the record was set by a 13-year-old young mother.

The reason for such sad statistics is the lack of sex education, says Daria Nepochatova: "Parents don't talk with their children about sexuality, everything is left to chance. Girls and boys are often unaware that unprotected sex alone is enough to get pregnant. Adolescents don't understand well how the reproductive system works. For them, sex is rather a forbidden fruit, a kind of attribute of adulthood. They may be bored or curious. And they want to try it," the specialist explains.

The lack of sex education and the number of pregnancies under 18 have a direct connection. For example, in the Netherlands and Denmark, according to 2017 data, out of 1000 girls aged 15-19 years, on average 4.4 girls become pregnant, and in Switzerland, it's 3.5, the lowest rate in Europe, and the merit of this is the existing concept of compulsory sex education in schools.

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2017). World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision, DVD Edition.

Now the girl with her mother, two younger sisters, brother, stepfather, and Serhii live in the village of Drozdovka; the decision to move was made after it became known about a new addition to the family and that Natalia was going to leave the fetus. However, Natalia herself believes that she and Serhii should live separately: "It's not life, with parents… As they say, too many cooks in one kitchen," the child says.

Daria Nepochatova explains: if a child reports pregnancy, the main thing isn't to react to shock too sharply and not to make sudden actions, which the parent may regret later: "It's important to come to the rescue, provide support, show that you accept the situation and you handle it together. Whatever decision a girl makes (to give birth or have an abortion), it'll have a psychological, bodily consequence for her, so it's important to turn to a psychologist or psychotherapist for advice."

When it comes to deciding whether to keep the baby or dispose of the fetus, one should understand that early adolescent pregnancy has serious consequences for the health of adolescent mothers and their children. According to research by the Nordic Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology Societies, complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among girls aged 15-19 worldwide. In addition, adolescent mothers aged 10-19 are at a higher risk of eclampsia, postpartum endometritis, and systemic infections than women aged 20-24. Early childbirth increases the risk for both mothers and their newborns. Children born before the age of 20 are at higher risk of low birth weight, prematurity, and severe neonatal illness.

And even if the pregnancy is successful and the fetus is healthy, the body of the young mother is still not ready for childbirth. Obstetrician Vasyl Husak explains: "It's one thing when the organs are mature, and another thing is when they are infantile and sexually mature. It's a completely different composition of tissues; they don't have collagen and don't stretch. More often one has to have a cesarean section."

If we talk about the influence on the child's psyche of the onset of early sexual activity, the psychologist explains: the psyche and further sexuality will most likely be influenced by how the first sexual experience went, which will remain in memory.

A common cause of pregnancy is ignorance: UNESCO notes that in many countries, children grow up with misconceptions about sexual and reproductive health, which is fraught with many problems. For example, half of the girls in Iran consider menstruation a disease; 51% of girls in Afghanistan and 82% in Malawi have no idea about menstruation before it occurs.

That is why it's important to tell children in time about puberty, sex, and its consequences and risks. A conversation with a child may not always seem comfortable for the parent and the child, though. In this case, you can resort to other methods: give the child proper literature or watch a movie together. Daria Nepochatova advises choosing the Sex Education series, it's about sexuality. For parents, it can be a revelation about the teenage world, and for teens, watching the show will show that it's okay to be a virgin and you don't have to do what's considered cool by someone else if you're not ready for it.

Now more and more teenagers are using TikTok social media. It may be convenient for the child to perceive information through a familiar platform, so the psychologist recommends bloggers to follow there: @SashaKoritsa and @ecowoman.space. This will be enough for a start.

Lectures, seminars, training are also held for teenagers. For example, such events are regularly held in large cities by sex teacher Yulia Yarmolenko: both for adults, "How and When to Talk About Sex with Teenagers," and for teenagers themselves, "For Teenagers About Sex: Simple and Accessible."

But the main thing is to maintain a healthy atmosphere in the family and have a trusting relationship with the child because the lack of attention from the parents is one of the major reasons for the onset of early sexual activity.