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News One blogger Dr. Boyce Watkins tries to make peace with the image of several Georgia teens proudly displaying their baby bumps, apparently as part of a pregnancy pact.

I want to thank HelloBeautiful.com for sharing this picture of a group of teen moms proudly sporting their baby bumps on Facebook.  Apparently, a baby in your belly has become the ultimate accessory, instantly turning you into the most fashionable girl at your school.  I can hear the collective gasps and head shaking coming from anyone who gets to experience the “thrill” of seeing these children expressing their excitement over having babies who could easily be their younger siblings.  There is a big part me that agrees with you. 

But to put it into perspective, I thought about the fact that my own mom was a teen mother, giving birth to me at the age of 17.  Mother Nature is a powerful force, and scientists say that a woman’s most fertile years are between the ages of 15 and 27. So, that means that even when we tell young people not to desire sex, all of us are strongly wired to do “the nasty.”  Finally, I’m admittedly not a big fan of abortion (at least not as a tool of simple reproductive convenience — at least I’m glad my mother decided not to abort me), so I am trying to find ways to make this picture OK in my mind.

But let’s be clear:  THIS PICTURE IS DISTURBING.

Read Dr. Boyce Watkins' entire blog entry at News One.