Parents did you know?

Roughly 1-in-4 girls will be pregnant at least once before age 20.

The U.S. teen birth rate is at an all-time low. As of 2016, the teen birth rate (20.3 births per 1,000 girls ages 15-to-19) declined 67 percent since its peak in 1991.

Yet despite plummeting rates, teen pregnancy and birth rates for teens ages 15-to-19 in the U.S. remain among the highest of industrialized nations.

The biggest predictor of efficacy of preventing teen pregnancy is parents talking to their adolescents and pre-adolescents. Parents if you can start having these conversations before your daughters reach their menses, then you have a greater chance of preventing them from having an unwanted pregnancy. And it’s the same for boys – it’s ideal to begin having talks before the onset of puberty, or around age 10.

By proactively having the “Sex Talk,” or call it the “Relationship Talk” parents you have a chance to share your own values in this area, and can be sure you are providing your children with important information not only about pregnancy prevention but about Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD’s), consent and other related issues.