Reinstating Men’s Responsibility in Teenage Pregnancy

12 years old. This is the age of the known and confirmed youngest father as of today. Sean Stewart is his name and he lives in the United Kingdom with his partner who is at that time was 15 years old. Some journals showed that there were reports claiming that there were younger than this, 9 years old in India and 11 years old in New Zealand and Mexico, but the information about them is not available and was not publicized.

In today's time, when talking about teenage pregnancy our primary concern is the mother but we hardly talk about the responsibility of the father being involved in the issue. With that, learning about the effects brought by the teenage father will let us see the other side of the coin.

In a report from ABC news in America, they stated that babies that were born with teenage fathers are subjected to a higher risk of health complications if compared to older men. This report includes the statement coming from an associate professor at the University of Ottawa Department of Epidemiology & Community Medicine, Dr. Shi Wu Wen, which stated that this increased risk of inimical pregnancy outcomes includes preterm birth, low birth weight, and neonatal deaths. Foreseeing the effects presented by Dr. Shi Wu Wen, men have deliberate effects not just on the psychological health of the mother but also on the baby being held by her.

In my interview with Dra. Joan Christia Tattao, a resident doctor from, she emphasized the psychological effect that the father could give to the pregnant woman. She stated that this circumstance commonly happens when the father wasn't able to carry out his responsibility and run away from it. The stress that the pregnant woman experiences from such a situation could affect the baby drastically, that he or she could become preterm or have low birth weight. In this case, the effect of the father is evident that life can be gravely affected.

With that, the responsibility of young men whom the initiator of unsafe premarital sex, in most cases, should be held up that men shall be educated enough on what he is able to do in producing an offspring. Men, specifically the youth, should know that it is not just their education and career that can be afflicted by such plight but also the life of the mother as well as the future of the infant. Being responsible and knowledgeable are two of the most essential values in this kind of situation.