Background:

In Mexico, teenage pregnancy is 77 for every 1,000. In terms of annual births, 17% are from teenage mothers, which are almost 350,000.

Objective:

To explain why teenage girls get pregnant in spite of knowing about contraceptives.

Method:

An observational and exploratory study by which 300 pregnant teenage girls between 15 and 19 years old were evaluated, with no history of substance abuse and whose pregnancies were not the result of rape. A questionnaire on family dynamics and an interview about their sociodemographic background were applied.

Results:

The first sexual intercourse for 1.7% of the participants was at 12 years old; for 7.3%, at 13; for 18.7%, at 14; for 36%, at 15; for 19.3%, at 16, and for the remaining 17%, near 19 years old. All of them (100%) stated they knew about contraceptives, including the morning-after pill.

Conclusions:

Pregnancies at an early age come with individual and social myths about the knowledge of human sexuality, contraception, and love life. For these young women, a pregnancy represents an object of love and obtaining a place in the world and within their families.

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