This was his reason, she said, for denying paternity. 

Another participant, who was 17 and still in school at the time of her pregnancy, said her 

boyfriend had already drifted away by the time she became aware of her pregnancy. she sought 

the advice of a sister and girlfriend, who recommended that she abort the child before her mother 

and aunt found out.  

In fact, when I realized I was pregnant I went to tell my boyfriend, but he didn't even 

mind me. And for a long time he wasn't giving me money to feed myself, so I decided not 

to say anything about the pregnancy. I decided to abort it since keeping the pregnancy 

will mean no support from the boy. [Iris] 

Iris went back to school after having an abortion, but she dropped out shortly thereafter 

because her mother could no longer pay the school fees.  

Another participant, who was 16 and learning hairdressing when she became pregnant, 

said she had gotten agreement from her boyfriend when they first began dating that he would 

marry her. However, when she became pregnant, rather than denying the pregnancy privately to 

her, he moved to another city without performing the knocking rite. 

He goes to Kumasi and comes. He's also an Ashanti, so I knew he was my tribesman. So I 

introduced him to my mother and father and he said he would perform the marriage rites. 

But when I got pregnant and I told him, when he went to Kumasi he did not return 

again. . . He got frightened that I was pregnant, so he ran away. He told me he was going 

to Kumasi to bring money and that I should give birth and I've not heard of him since. 

[Karen] 

In cases where the boyfriend denied responsibility for the pregnancy, the cost of the 

abortion fell to the girl. All three girls terminated these pregnancies by either borrowing money 

on a pretext from their parents or another adult, by using their savings, or both. One used 

traditional medicine, and two others had clinic abortions one at a hospital and another at a 

private clinic. They all said that their boyfriends' refusal had led them to have an abortion and to 

have to pay for the procedure themselves. 

That is why I terminated the pregnancy. . . He denied responsibility, so I was so hurt and 

I told him I do not want to give birth where there is no one to father my child. 

The strategies used by other participants, however, demonstrate that abortion was not the 

only option when a girl was faced with a boyfriend who denied responsibility for a pregnancy. 

For example, a strategy used by Yolanda, who was 16 and in school in her hometown, during her 

pregnancy was to tell her parents about the boy's refusal to acknowledge paternity. They in turn 

intervened and forced the boy to claim responsibility for the pregnancy. Yolanda gave the 

following account of these events: 

I told my parents about it and we marched to the boy's house to announce the pregnancy 

to his parents. Initially the boy denied it, but after reporting him to the Chief, he finally 

42