i agree. i do think she should wait until shes older. but, like the one article talks about, waiting too long could cause problems because of the womans fertility. not everyone is blessed with getting a $50,000 a year job right out of college. sometimes it takes years to establish oneself with a stable job, especially in todays economic situation. (which is a great reason, i think, for a 16 year old to wait. if experienced 40 year olds are having trouble finding a job, how do you think a 16-18 year old would fare in todays job market?) but some women may not find financial stability until their 30s. to me, this situation is kind of a 'damned if you do, damned if you dont' type of thing. if you have kids early, people are going to be constantly critisizing you and you may not be able to provide for your child financially. but if you wait until youre stable and non-selfish, you may need the aid of fertility treatments just to become pregnant (which takes up lots of time and money and emotional strain if it isnt successful the first time). i dont know. but i still think everyone should make their own choices and people shouldnt be criticizing others because their belief system is different. if i had a daughter that was 16 and trying to get pregnant, i think i would be totally devastated. even if she was out of school already and had a job. everyone does deserve some 'free time' in their life... if you want/have a kid that young, it is true you wont have free time ever. i just wish everyone luck in their life. and if the original poster gets pregnant soon... i hope that everything works out the way you hope it will, but dont be surprised if it doesnt.

your chance of concieving do go down but only gradually the article you published said gradually and the figures in my post above show you just how gradually so theres really no need to start worrying about conception until about age 27 by this point your still young enough to get some investagative fertilly treatment if you have a problem and still lots of time to concieve either natually or with help if you have infertile issues

not infertile i ment fertility

i agree, she still has 11 years to really worry about fertility... but i was talking about how some women arent stable until much later than that. i guess i should have put age ranges in my post above. my boyfriends ex and one of my old friends from high school are currently going through fertility treatments (one because the pill stopped her from ovulating and the other because she has a heart-shaped uterus) and they are both really young. they tell me it is pure hell going through all of the testing and pills and shots and treatments. i dont know why anyone would put off childbearing because 'oh, i can just do fertility treatments or ivf if i cant conceive naturally when im 32'. from what they say, its no walk in the park.

id prefer to have kids young (im 25 and almost 14 weeks preg with my 2nd babe) because im paranoid haha. im scared if i would have waited any longer for a 2nd i wouldnt be able to have kids (and having a miscarriage in february didnt help reassure me any). its the same reason id never take birth control because ive had friends that now no longer ovulate because they were on the pill for so many years (a lot of people will say thats impossible... but it happens). i dont know. im all for having babies when youre young. 16 is a little too young though. if i were able to plan my whole life out when i was 16, i think i would have decided to have my first kid when i was 21. youre an adult, and yet youre still consider really young. i dont know. its hard to debate moral issues when there are valid facts coming from both sides of the argument. =) and we havent even heard from allie, the poster, for a long time in this thread. hmm.

I had my son when i was 21 and it was still hard for me,im 24 now and im 19 weeks with my second,i had 2 miscariages last year so i know how you feel,im so scared this time but fingers crossed im doing ok for now,yeah your right about the poster i think we scared her off mostly me lol,when i feel stongly about something im like a dog with a bone,but i only have an issue with really young teens trying for babys,im from england and here when your 18 although still young you are considered an adult,i accutally started trying for my son at 19 but it took me two years a long time i know but i wasnt leading a healthy lifestyle and i was stressing about getting pregnant i know it was that because ive been pregnant 3 times since my son and its only taken me 3-5 months,im really glad i was in my 20's with my son though as i got to live a little first,so ive no regrets,but i have given up on the teen's trying for babys arguement now lifes full of choices and people have to make there own mistakes i remember that now,ive made a few myself in my time i just couldnt let young teens believe that they only have until 24 and there chances of conception are halved because its just not true good luck with your pregnancy

I was 17 when I got pregnant. It is not a cakewalk, and even though I had a stable job, good savings, was already taking a few college courses, and had my own place to live, it was still very hard for me. Even with all the money in the world and all the support in the world, it can still be very hard. Support and money can disappear at any time. A newborn baby cannot disappear, you cannot make it vanish from existence. I support teens who are already pregnant and give them sound parenting advice or sound advice on their options. I tell them it is not going to be easy. But I cannot honestly CONDONE a teen becoming pregnant purposefully, especially for the wrong reasons, such as wanting to fill a void, wanting someone to love or love them unconditionally, etc. And every teen needs to know that no matter what, circumstances are not set in stone and just because they think they have enough money or they think it will be easy, doesn't mean it will be, or that finances will last or be enough. I thought I was ready. Although finances were not an issue, work was and so was dealing with a preterm, jaundiced, colicky newborn. I managed, but there were some days life got a wee bit hard. My boyfriend (now husband) was always there for me, we had known each other since junior high. But not every man always stands by his woman. A baby does not guarantee a lifetime relationship or commitment to a certain boy/man. Every teen who wants to conceive needs to know all of this. Sure, there are girls out there that have sweet, quiet babies. Sure the girls may have enough money, they may have a good education or might be headed to college. Their boyfriends may even stick around. But it is usually only one of these things, you rarely get a girl who has money, their own place, is in or going to be in college, has a "good" baby, and is still with her boyfriend. That is usually an exception, not a common. Just as you have the choice to undergo plastic surgery or even a surgery to cure a disease, you also have the choice to become a teen parent. But just like surgery or curing diseases, or medicines, you MUST be informed of the risks and benefits. And to me, teen pregnancy has far more risks than benefits, and sometimes even if the benefit is a beautiful baby that you love to pieces, it still does not outweigh the risks. I cannot, with a good mind, go out and tell teens who want to become parents to just do it...that everything will be fine. Especially if, like I said earlier, they are wanting to parent for the wrong reasons. That being said, I can inform them all I want, but the choice is theirs to make. I just think that sometimes the choice that is made (like having a baby when you are 14 because you want to be loved unconditionally or you want to love someone else unconditionally)turns out to be the wrong choice and you can't go back. To teens out there who want to be loved or love someone else unconditionally, here is another option: you want someone to love unconditionally, love yourself unconditionally. You want to be loved unconditionally, love yourself unconditionally. Trust me, when you are ready and stable enough financially, maturity-wise, and emotionally, and finally have the baby you always dreamed of, you will love your child unconditionally. And even though, when he/she gets older, your child will sometimes say, "I hate you", that child will love you unconditionally. But why rush? Why not wait until you can provide your child with EVERYTHING they need without worrying about finances, without worrying about your schoolwork, without worrying about whether or not you and your man will last forever? I cannot sit here and talk bad about those who want to be teen mommies, I cannot tell them it is wrong, I myself was one. But I can say that I've been in that situation, and even though there were good times, parenting is NOT a cakewalk. And that sometimes waiting is the best choice.

i understand all that you say and i do not want to become a mammy to be loved unconditionaly or to love unconditionaly! i do not crave love i crave the child i have lost forever i dont want a replacement just to move on with my life and be happy with my fiancee! this is my last post debates are too stressfull and what i came here for or not what i need!!! good night god bless to you all

Why are you posting here then? If you need help or advice conceiving, this is the appropriate forum: http://ehealthforum.com/health/fertility_f riend.html
This forum is for teenage mothers/fathers or pregnant teens to get advice and support. Not a forum to help teens who want to be pregnant get pregnant. If you want unbiased advice on fertility, post in the above forum and don't tell your age because not many adults want to help a teenager conceive.

Oh knock it off already. The girl is going to look for other ways to try to help her conceive whether any of you people, that have no right to judge her, like it or not. You don't have to insult her or put her down in any way.
The job of an obgyn is to help girls and women, no matter what age, determine why they cannot have children and so forth.
Oh and DARKDESIRE85...she is 16, not 14, read her post.

well she was 14 years old when she began trying!!!,may i also add that never at any stage in this debate have i personally attacked anyone,i have strong opinions and if these girls are not mature enough to see it for what it is AN OPINION,How well will they cope with motherhood???,i am always very careful not to insult anyone in all of my posts,and that is not true by the way obgyn's do not even have to consider helping anyone under the age of sexual consent no responsble adult would ever do that,And i do not judge these young girls either,i merely try to let them see the side to motherhood that they MAY not have considered and i do realise that they will go on regardless with the decision they want to make but will be more prepared for the extreme change having a baby would make to there lives.