the pregnancy. But then he said I should leave it. He is not aware that I have used these 

medicines at his back. . . My child is not yet grown [so I want to terminate it]. [Candace] 

As mentioned earlier, even after having one child with a boyfriend or husband, some 

women aborted a second without the consent of the boyfriend or husband to space their births.  

5.3.3  Girl Wants Birth, Boyfriend or Husband Wants Abortion  

In situations involving a second birth with the same boyfriend or husband, it was easier 

for the girl to give birth without the boyfriend's or husband's consent, because public recognition 

of paternity had already been established. However, if the girl wanted to give birth and the 

boyfriend or husband wanted an abortion, the girl might again bring her parents into the process 

by telling them about the situation. The latter cases are discussed in the next section. 

In two cases of second pregnancy, the participants said that because they already had one 

child with a man, they went ahead and had a second child even though the boyfriend or husband 

objected. For example, Lily said, 

When I realized I was one month pregnant, I told my boyfriend. He was annoyed with me 

for getting pregnant and again said I should abort, but I refused. . . [I] promised that 

after this second one I will abort any other pregnancies that come, since I don't want to 

have more than two children. . . I refused for the simple reason that I already had one 

child with him, so there is nothing wrong with having a second one. [Lily] 

In the instance of a girl who was forced to marry a man more than two decades her 

senior, she was able to argue her way into giving birth when he wanted her to have an abortion.  

My boyfriend advised me to abort it, but I refused because I was afraid. . .  He said I was 

too small to have a child, but I also told him that if he knew I was too small, why did he 

force me to go to bed with him?  We quarreled for a while and then later he gave me 

money to go back to my hometown for the baby to be born. [Hope] 

5.4 

Parents or Guardians Decided  

Parents, guardians, and other adults play various roles in helping teens cope with 

pregnancy.  Sometimes they instructed the girl on what they considered to be the proper course 

of action, provided money, helped the girl obtain an abortion, or advised a couple who could not 

decide what to do. Parents or female caretakers made the decision to have an abortion or to give 

birth in 10 of the 49 cases analyzed. They usually had multiple reasons for making their decision, 

including that they were strongly opposed to abortion, that the girl was completely dependent on 

them, or that the couple disagreed on the decision.  

Most of the participants reported that they began to earn their own income in their mid 

teens or earlier. In two cases, however, the participants reported that they were completely 

dependent on their female caretakers for financial support at the time they became pregnant.  

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