Gay and bisexual teens more likely to get pregnant
A study in New York has discovered that teens who have same-sex sexual partners are more likely to get pregnant or get their partners pregnant.
The study asked 10,000 students if they had had a same-sex partner or identified as gay or bisexual. Those who were gay or bisexual were twice as likely to be involved in a pregnancy.
Lisa Lindley who lead the study, told Reuters: “The message for me is that these populations are often ignored or assumed to not need information or reproductive care or services and they absolutely do.
“I was just curious more than anything to repeat one of the studies that was done to look at teen pregnancy among sexually experienced young people.
“What really accounted for most of the risk for the girls was sexual behaviour.
“Basically the earlier they initiated intercourse and the more partners they had the more likely they were to become pregnant.”
13-14% of straight girls became pregnant, compared with 20-23% of gay or bisexual girls.
10% of straight boys experienced a pregnancy – and 38% of boys who had reported both male and female sexual partners had got a partner pregnant.
A study in Canada last year revealed similar statistics.
Dara Parker, executive director of Vancouver-based queer resource centre Qmunity, said she was “not entirely surprised” by the findings.
“Queer youth are at higher risk for almost everything that’s negative for a teenager,” she added. “They’re at high risk for risky behaviour.”
