Black teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in South Africa have reached a threatening level. Accepting that teenage pregnancy is multi-causational, this article outlines selected consequences. It concludes that teenage pregnancy as a social problem needs reexamination in terms of two hypotheses: that the pheronomal climate has an impact on prepuberal girls; and that teenage pregnancy is nature's way of ensuring the survival of the species.
PIP: The incidence and prevalence of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases among Black teenagers in South Africa have reached threatening levels. The author describes and discusses the social consequences of teenage pregnancy. These consequences include school drop-out or interrupted education, vulnerability to or participation in criminal activity, abortion, social ostracism, child neglect and abandonment, school adjustment problems for children born to teenage mothers, adoption, the lack of social security, poverty, repeat pregnancies before age 20, negative effects upon domestic life, and rape, abuse, and incest. It is concluded that teenage pregnancy as a social problem needs to be re-examined in terms of the following hypotheses: that the pheromonal climate to which prepubertal girls are exposed lowers their age at menarche and that teenage pregnancy is nature's way of ensuring the survival of the human species.