Does family interaction prevent adolescent pregnancy?

This study uses data from the 1982 National Survey of Family Growth to ascertain whether family interaction can avert adolescent sexual activity, pregnancy, childbearing and parenthood. The results obtained from using logistic regression procedures indicate that the family may be effective in increasing adolescents' use of contraceptives and selection of abortion or adoption as alternatives to parenthood. Family interaction, however, was not associated with forestalling adolescent sexual activity or with providing for the well-being of the adolescent and her child and it is unlikely that a policy based solely on family interaction will be effective. Characteristics associated with effectiveness in preventing adolescent pregnancy included race, religion, residence, mother's education, the adolescent's age and family income.

Pregnancy testing and counseling

Pregnancy testing and counseling are increasingly accepted as necessary services for adolescents within the primary care setting. For teenagers in need of a pregnancy test, the easy-to-perform, highly sensitive and specific enzyme immunoassay analysis for measuring beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-HCG) is ideal. However, no single beta-HCG analysis should be taken as absolute evidence for the presence or absence of pregnancy. Instead, an integrated approach using all of the health care professional's skills in adolescent health care should be taken. In some cases a careful history and physical examination will confirm the pregnancy. At other times serial quantitative serum HCG titers, pelvic ultrasonography, and culdocentesis may be necessary to rule out the possibility of ectopic pregnancy or threatened abortion. For more than three quarters of pregnant adolescents the pregnancy is unplanned and may represent a major conflict for themselves, their partner, and their families. When such an event occurs the health care professional will frequently be sought as a resource. Successful pregnancy counseling has many components. The adolescent will need to visualize the counselor as an available, sensitive, nonjudgmental individual who believes in the right of the pregnant teenager ultimately to progress to her own decision. The counseling process should be firmly based on an understanding of adolescent psychosocial and biologic development, crises intervention techniques, and family dynamics. The counselor needs to be a reliable information source. If the adolescent decides to go to term, programs offering comprehensive prenatal services to teenagers should be identified. Information concerning high-quality, low-cost abortion services also will need to be available for those who wish to terminate. It is important to monitor the quality of care given in prenatal and abortion service referrals. Few adolescents currently choose to place their babies for adoption. Counseling in this area is especially needed. Several types of adoption procedures are available and at appropriate times during a teenager's neonatal care adoption should be presented as a reasonable alternative to parenthood. Throughout this process, the health care professional will have opportunities to discuss a wide variety of health related topics with the adolescent and often her partner and their respective families. Ideally, whatever her final decision, it is the goal of the counselor to make the experience a positive and maturing influence on her life and the lives of other persons involved.

Public Law No. 100-430, Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, 13 September 1988

Among other things, this Act amends the US Civil Rights Act of 1968 to extend protections against discrimination based on familial status to include pregnant women and adopting parents. It also prohibits discrimination based on familial status in the sale or rental of homes and makes it unlawful for anyone engaged in residential real estate-related transactions to discriminate in the provision or terms of a transaction because of sex and familial status, among other things.

Mother and Unborn Baby Care v. State, 11 May 1988

The State charged the defendant antiabortion organization with violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act in advertising under abortion groups in the yellow pages. The Court upheld a lower court decision enjoining deceptive conduct, mandating certain disclosures, and assessing penalties. It rejected the defendant's argument that it was not involved in trade or commerce and, thus, was not subject to the Act. As support for its decision, the Court pointed to the defendant's advertising in the yellow pages and provision of pregnancy testing, counseling, financial assistance, aid in adoption procedures, and help in obtaining legal aid.

Introduction of birth grants and family allowances, 1988

As of May 1988, the Government of Quebec introduced a lump sum birth grant of $500 to assist families on the occasion of the birth of a child or of the adoption of a first or second child. When there are three or more children in the family, the grant is increased to $375 per quarter until the child reaches the age of two. In addition, as of January 1989, a young children's allowance was introduced for families with at least one child under the age of six. The allowance replaces the previous "availability allowance," but provides a higher level of benefit.

Schachter v. Canada, 7 June 1988

The plaintiff, the father of a newborn child, was denied benefits under Section 30 of the Canadian Unemployment Insurance Act, which provides up to 15 weeks of benefits for the mother, but not the father, of a newborn child. He claimed that, since Section 32 of the Act gives benefits to a claimant of either sex in the case of newly adopted children, the denial of benefits to him under Section 30 contravened Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which mandates equality of treatment. The Court upheld his claim and ruled that, as long as Section 32 remains in its current form, both mothers and fathers of newborns should be entitled to benefits under Section 30.

International adoptions: the quiet migration

This study is concerned with the adoption of foreign children by persons in developed countries since World War II. Data from the United States and Sweden are used to illustrate the changes in countries of origin that have occurred over time. "In the 1940s most foreign children who were adopted came from Europe. During the next two decades a shift to adopting from Asia occurred, and in the 1970s Latin America became a major source area." The contribution of foreign adoption to international migration flows is considered.