The United States has the highest teenage pregnancy rate of any Western nation, with approximately 560,000 girls giving birth every year. The rate is twice that of Canada and England and seven times that of the Netherlands. Although that rate has been declining in recent years, teenage pregnancy still extracts a tremendous toll on family and government financial resources, on the hopes and dreams of the young people involved and on the future of their baby.

Physically, a woman is able to bear a child once she has gone through puberty. However, pregnancy and parenthood can be more emotionally, physically, and financially taxing than expected.

Pregnancies can be unexpected, resulting, for instance, from the failure of a contraceptive method. However, many teens do not have the facts regarding teenage pregnancy, and instead of asking their doctor, they ask their friends--who can be a tremendous source of misinformation...