Are girls who grow up in large families more likely to become pregnant in their teens? There is no definitive answer to this. In some scenarios a larger family might cause it to be more common, while in other scenarios it might make it less likely or have no effect at all. It will depend upon a variety of factors including the girl, the family and the situation. The following are reasons why this may or may not occur.
Reasons why they may be more likely to become pregnant in their teens.
A girl from a large family might not get the attention that she wants. There are two parents no matter how many children they have. One child can get all of the parental attention they have to bestow, two children will get half, three will get one-third and so on. In addition to splitting the parental time between all of the children, they may have less parental time in general. They may have to work more to support the family or there might be more housework that they will need to take care of. This can have ramifications in a number of ways.
First, if a girl feels like she is not getting enough attention, she might rebel. She might choose to date a certain boy as a rebellion and then might become sexually active as well. Also if a girl does not get as much attention from her parents then her parents might not notice problems that would lead up to her getting pregnant at that time. They might miss signs that something is wrong or that she is doing irresponsible behavior. They might just be too busy with their other children. Also, the girl might not get to have the heart-to-heart conversation she needs to have. She might instead look for attention elsewhere and might find it in a guy. They might then proceed to do what is necessary to have an unplanned pregnancy.
Reasons why they may not be more likely to become pregnant in their teens.
When you are in a big family, there are always people around to give you attention. Even if a girl might not have all of her parents’ time, she might be able to find support and advice from her siblings. This might help her to make the better choices that would avoid an unplanned pregnancy.
In addition, a girl in a large family might rarely be alone, especially in the family house. They may simply be less likely to have the opportunity to do what you need to do to have a pregnancy.
