After teens recover from the initial shock of becoming pregnant, there are several options available to them.  According to Regina Hans, a Youth for Christ counselor in Bluffton, teens usually decide on one of following.
        “I see typically three different scenarios with teenage pregnancies,” she said.  “They drop out of school and live in poverty, they keep the child and the grandparent raises the child mostly or they keep the child and parent as best as they can.”
        While adoption is a choice for teen parents nationwide available, a local teen father is glad he decided to stay with his son.
        “I’m glad we didn’t put him up for adoption,” he said.  “I love being able to see him grow.”
        Generally, teen parents in Indiana decide to keep the baby, according to Hope Lehman, a Youth for Christ counselor in Muncie. The price of keeping a baby is high and for mothers and children there is financial assistance available.  State programs like Hoosier Healthwise and WIC provide some aide to needy children and their mothers.
        Hoosier Healthwise is program designed to provide health care for children, pregnant women and low-income families.  Administered by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, the program strives to provide medical coverage in a cost-effective manner, according to the program’s website.
        Even mothers whose parents’ incomes are too high can obtain money for their child.
        “Indiana doesn’t turn down any child without childcare,” she said.
        As of 2003, there is no financial assistance available for the father because, in most cases, the mother or the mother’s family takes care of the child.  Child support is an option, but according to both Snider and Lehman, most teens choose not to take the father to court. 

Legal Burdens

When fathers are taken to court, paying for child support seems to be the most significant legal issue that they face. These teenagers sometimes have to get their education as well as go to work so they can make their monthly child support payments.  If the father does not make these payments, they will accumulate until the father is able to make the late payments.  The father must continue to make his regular monthly payments in addition to any past due payments.
        The teenage father cannot simply decide to not pay child support and get away with it.  Failing to make the required monthly child support payments can result in the father losing the right to spend time with his child.
        However, a teenage father does make his monthly child support payments, he is entitled to see his child.
        Paul Thompson, a Muncie attorney said, “The mother cannot deny the father the opportunity to spend time with his child.  If this does happen, the father can take the mother to court and demand the right to spend time with his child.”
        Another obligation that the father faces is he might have to provide his child with health insurance.  If his parents’ insurance does not cover his child, he must then get health insurance.  Once again, if he does not provide this insurance, he may be taken to court. 

Where to go

According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, teenage pregnancy rates were down two percent in the year 2000.  In Indiana, almost seventeen thousand teenagers reported being pregnant in the same year. Lehman says the rates for Delaware County are declining, but still high.
        “In the year 2000, Delaware County had 200 reported pregnancies for teenagers between the ages of 13 and 19,” she said.
        With 200 births to teen parents each year, Muncie fathers need to know where they can go in a society where pregnancy help and aftercare for teenage parents is very focused on just the mothers.  Nonetheless, many options are available to both teen parents.
        Wapahani High School counselor Jobina Wiemer suggests parents visit the various places around town.
        “From Muncie, there’s quite a few, there’s insurance, there’s Hoosier Healthwise, there’s the WIC program, there’s Beds and Bridges, obviously Open Door and Planned Parenthood, the health clinics,” she said.
        Although many pregnancy centers cater to mothers, fathers are welcome to come for counseling and educational classes.  Heart to Heart offers post-abortion counseling for parents in need.  Planned Parenthood has a program called Dad2Dad that helps fathers build healthy and strong relationships with their children.  Open Door Family Planning, an organization sponsored by Ball Memorial Hospital, helps families find financial and medical assistant for the baby as well as educational programs on healthy lifestyles.
        In-depth counseling and educational programs are offered at Youth for Christ.  Unlike many of the pregnancy clinics, Youth for Christ’s organization focuses more on helping teenage parents learn how to cope with the responsibilities of parenthood and learn how to deal with the problems ahead rather than just the immediate shock.  They work closely with school counselors and usually work by referral.
        During a phone interview, a teen father says he sought advice from his high school guidance counselor who advised him to go to Youth for Christ.
        “I talked to my mom and I talked to my guidance counselor and he referred [Regina] to me.  During school on like Tuesdays, during our study hall period, I would meet with her.  She’s helped us understand the concept of parenting a lot.“
        Most clinics offer counseling for as long as teenage parents need advice.  For teenagers who have just recently found out they are expecting, Jennifer, a teenage mother, offers them suggestions.
        “Find people that are really concerned about you and care about you and want to help,” she said.  “Find true friends and hang on to them.  And finish high school.”