Lesbian Teens More Likely to get Pregnant than Straight Teens
Wednesday 17th December 2008
A Canadian study has come to an unexpected conclusion regarding teen pregnancies and homosexuality.
A teenager in El Salvador undergoes a pre-natal exam. Image via USAID.
According to a study of students in British Columbia, lesbian and bisexual teens are up to seven times more likely to become pregnant than heterosexual teenagers.
The survey queried 30,000 students in grades 7-12 over the last 16 years about their habits and lifestyles. Not only did they discover that lesbian or bisexual girls were more likely to get pregnant, they also found that gay and bisexual boys were more likely to have impregnated a woman.
The results might seem counterintuitive to some, after all gay and lesbian teens would not seem the most likely candidates to be doing things that could result in pregnancies, but the researchers who undertook the study have several likely, if unproven, explanations.
They theorized that many of the gay and lesbian students are closeted and using sex with members of the opposite sex as a way of hiding their true selves and avoiding discrimination. Study author Elizabeth Saewyc told the Vancouver Sun: “For some gay, lesbian and bisexual teens it’s camouflage, because it’s still pretty stigmatized and they still face a lot of harassment at school.”
Saewyc suggested other explanations as well, such as teenagers who are still not quite sure about their sexuality experimenting with members of the opposite sex before completely identifying as homosexual. She also theorized that some of the lesbian and bisexual women were deliberately getting pregnant as a way of creating a new personal identity for themselves.
The statistics from the study found that 10.6% of girls who identified as bisexuals reported becoming pregnant at some time before or during the study, while 7.3% of lesbians reported becoming pregnant. A mere 1.8% of heterosexual girls reported pregnancies, although the much larger sample size of heterosexual girls meant that the 1.8% of heterosexual pregnancies were greater in number than the pregnancies of lesbian and bisexual women.
The study was recently released and can be found in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality.
A teenager in El Salvador undergoes a pre-natal exam. Image via USAID.
According to a study of students in British Columbia, lesbian and bisexual teens are up to seven times more likely to become pregnant than heterosexual teenagers.
The survey queried 30,000 students in grades 7-12 over the last 16 years about their habits and lifestyles. Not only did they discover that lesbian or bisexual girls were more likely to get pregnant, they also found that gay and bisexual boys were more likely to have impregnated a woman.
The results might seem counterintuitive to some, after all gay and lesbian teens would not seem the most likely candidates to be doing things that could result in pregnancies, but the researchers who undertook the study have several likely, if unproven, explanations.
They theorized that many of the gay and lesbian students are closeted and using sex with members of the opposite sex as a way of hiding their true selves and avoiding discrimination. Study author Elizabeth Saewyc told the Vancouver Sun: “For some gay, lesbian and bisexual teens it’s camouflage, because it’s still pretty stigmatized and they still face a lot of harassment at school.”
Saewyc suggested other explanations as well, such as teenagers who are still not quite sure about their sexuality experimenting with members of the opposite sex before completely identifying as homosexual. She also theorized that some of the lesbian and bisexual women were deliberately getting pregnant as a way of creating a new personal identity for themselves.
The statistics from the study found that 10.6% of girls who identified as bisexuals reported becoming pregnant at some time before or during the study, while 7.3% of lesbians reported becoming pregnant. A mere 1.8% of heterosexual girls reported pregnancies, although the much larger sample size of heterosexual girls meant that the 1.8% of heterosexual pregnancies were greater in number than the pregnancies of lesbian and bisexual women.
The study was recently released and can be found in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality.
Pinke.biz is proud to announce the upcoming launch of Pinke Jobs, a jobs board filled with diverse roles for diverse people. We are also happy to announce the launch of Pinke Mobiles. Featuring pink handsets and the hottest new phones available, as well as great prices on mobile plans, Pinke Mobiles make a great holiday gift. When you buy a Pinke Mobile you're also helping gay teenagers living on the streets. For every Pinke Mobile sold we'll make a donation to the Albert Kennedy Trust. Get a great deal AND help the homeless this holiday season.
Email Pinke editor Robert Knox with questions or comments on any Pinke story.
Wednesday, 17 December 2008 17:02
wow, so because the survey size was different for homosexual and heterosexual women, these statistics mean nothing. It could be 100 straight women pregnant and 10 lesbian women pregnant, and the stats could still look this skewed.ohdeargod
Thursday, 18 December 2008 05:41
I was looking up diseases in the CDC and found that lesbians are at higher rate for AIDS. However, the reasoning was different than this article. It stated that lesbians who might have sex with a man are less likely to practice safe sex (condom).James25
