By all indicators, the reproductive health of Americans has been deteriorating since 1980. Our nation is troubled by rates of teen pregnancies and newborn deaths that are worse than almost all others in the Western world. Science and Babies is a straightforward presentation of the major reproductive issues we face that suggests answers for the public. The book discusses how the clash of opinions on sex and family planning prevents us from making a national commitment to reproductive health; why people in the United States have fewer contraceptive choices than those in many other countries; what we need to do to improve social and medical services for teens and people living in poverty; how couples should "shop" for a fertility service and make consumer-wise decisions; and what we can expect in the futureâ€"featuring interesting accounts of potential scientific advances.

More than 1 million teenage girls in the United States become pregnant each year; nearly half give birth. Why do these young people, who are hardly more than children themselves, become parents? This volume reviews in detail the trends in and consequences of teenage sexual behavior and offers thoughtful insights on the issues of sexual initiation, contraception, pregnancy, abortion, adoption, and the well-being of adolescent families. It provides a systematic assessment of the impact of various programmatic approaches, both preventive and ameliorative, in light of the growing scientific understanding of the topic.

This detailed, exhaustively documented account shows how and why just about everyone in today's teen pregnancy debate is wrong—often disastrously so. Teenage Sex and Pregnancy: Modern Myths, Unsexy Realities presents a unique view of its subject by analyzing the extensive myths and fears that surround discussion of teenage sex and pregnancy, including their relationship to popular culture, poverty, adult sexual behaviors, and anxieties toward the increasingly public roles of young women. Award-winning author Mike Males argues that today's discussions rely largely on falsehoods and the suppression of crucial realities. His work details a new view of popular culture as a largely beneficial feature of teens' lives and presents a carefully documented analysis demolishing destructive myths about the "new girl." Debunking popular arguments, he shows that the "teen sex" debate is mired in interest-group talking points that ignore difficult realities to advance politically attuned agendas. It's time, he writes, to modernize the discussion, recognizing that teens act in ways consistent with their interests, with the sexual behaviors of adults, and with the school and job opportunities afforded them.

"Discusses the issues of teenage sex and pregnancy, including the severity of the problem in modern society, the consequences of teenage sex and pregnancy, and the controversy over sex education in schools"--GoogleBooks.com.

This examination of changes in adolescent fertility emphasizes the changing social context within which adolescent childbearing takes place.

Teenage pregnancy is widely viewed as a significant social problem. This book argues that much of the problem stems from inaccurate perceptions of what the problem is. The problem, according to the text, is not teenagers who want sex too soon but a society that offers too little, too late.

Describes the experiences of young American women coming of age in the late twentieth century, and provides firsthand accounts of love, desire, popularity, promiscuity, sex, birth control, and motherhood.