Revised for the first time since 2007, the American Academy of Pediatrics has altered its stance on IUDs for teenagers. Here is the official AAP recommendation:
IUDs have previously not been recommended for adolescents; risk of infection in teens … and liability concerns … … In some cases, however, an IUD may be appropriate for an adolescent who already has children and is taking precautions to protect against STIs. [The Mirena] IUD may be particularly useful for adolescents with severe menorrhagia and dysmenorrhea, as has been shown in adult women. (Source)
Pediatrics contributors expanded on that official recommendation with follow-up articles that actually say that due to the “efficacy, safety and ease of use” of IUDs, they are one of the best first options for preventing teen pregnancy.
Ugh – There are so many reasons why I would never encourage my daughter to get an IUD when she’s a teenager. To start with, there are a lot of physical side effects and major risks, which my friend Jenna Karvunidis detailed over at ChicagoNow. But, more significantly, this is just creating yet another “crutch” for teenagers who are already struggling to grow up.
IUDs Recommended For Avoiding Teen Pregnancy
Are we really trying to enable teenagers to be LESS responsible for their sexual activity by giving them a blanket “fix” so they don’t have to ever worry about pregnancy? So, in other words, instead of raising our girls to be strong, confident young women who don’t take sexual activity lightly, let’s just temporarily sterilize them so they … excuse me, the taxpayers … don’t have to worry about paying for their mistakes. Don’t we want girls to stop and think before considering any sexual experience? Having a “you can’t get pregnant” device inside her could encourage her to be a lot less thoughtful about her actions. And let’s not forget, an IUD does not protect against STDs in any way, so teenagers will STILL have to be responsible for a secondary form of protection. The IUD is not a magic bullet to stop teen pregnancy.
Dating as a young teen is an important part of life, but a teen girl should date and form a relationship, however serious it gets, and have that be the basis of why she is “going with” a boy. A girl should not start out her dating life by thinking the only way to keep the boy interested is to have sex. A lot of people argue that sex is an important part of a relationship and/or it’s no big deal to have casual sex if both parties are willing. That’s all well and good for ADULTS. A young teenage girl does not have the emotional maturity to be in a “serious” relationship nor have consequence-free casual sex. I’m talking about teenagers 17 and under, by the way. I fully believe that an 18 or 19 year old is grown up enough to make those adult decisions.
Everyone always falls back on the “teenagers are going to have sex” argument. Not true. All teenagers do not engage in sexual activity and a vast majority of those who do are using protection of some sort. There were just over 305,000 teen births in the US in 2013. Based on census data, there is an average of 22 million teenagers in the US in a given year. So we’re talking 1-2% of teenagers who may or may not be sexually active are actually getting pregnant. That is hardly a teen pregnancy percentage of epidemic proportions.
Look, teenagers are capable of acting a lot smarter than people give them credit for these days. They’re babied and coddled from a young age, excuses made for their behavior and lack of personal responsibility because they’re “just kids”. Do we really not realize that these teens are taking advantage of that, either consciously or subconsciously, because they’ve never had to really experience negative consequences for anything?
In Illinois, Governor Pat Quinn wants to curb teen pregnancy by encouraging doctors to prescribe highly effective forms of birth control like the IUD, citing the potential savings to taxpayers. By incentivizing doctors to recommend contraceptive devices like IUDs, the Quinn Administration says taxpayers could save millions of dollars and fewer girls would become teen moms.(source) Save tax dollars and cut down on teen pregnancy? Yes, it probably would. But that is NOT the right way to go about it.
Force teenagers to start being accountable for what they do. Teach them about safe sex and abstinence and the right to just say NO. Model for them what a good relationship is. Raise them to have self-confidence and self-esteem even when things are not going their way 100%. Prepare them to become adults when they are out of high school; get rid of the notion that they are entitled to fun and “experiencing life” until they are 30. Give them consequences as they are growing up, so that when faced with a “should I risk unprotected sex?” situation, they are armed with both logic/education and common sense/respect for potential consequences. THAT is what will influence them to make better choices. Shrouding them in yet another layer of bubble wrap to shield them from having to ever make a responsible decision in regards to preventing teen pregnancy is not the answer.
IUDs Recommended For PreventingTeen Pregnancy
Form a relationship with your teenager. Talk to them! Educate them! Love them! Build mutual trust and respect. It’s not easy, it’s tough. It’s one of the hardest parts of parenting, finding that fine line between friend and foe. But it does exist, and it can be done, and it should be done.
Don’t just install a birth control device in your daughter and think “Whew, now that is one less thing I have to bother to worry about.”