Nowadays, it is common to see young girls in their teens pregnant. Many of the young girls get pregnant for men who are not even their husbands.

Most of the people for whom these teenagers get pregnant are either other teenagers or older men. Some of the pregnancies are a one-off unprotected encounter.

A teenager getting pregnant is often considered by the parents as a disgrace that brings shame upon them.

Parents blame their pregnant daughters for not heeding to advice and engaging in sexual activity.

The teenagers have their own reasons for engaging in sexual activity. Bella, 14, who lives with her parents at Mile 16 Bolifamba, Buea, is pregnant. She is a victim of rape. She was raped hawking meat along the streets of Bolifamba.

She was raped by one Julius, aged 21, who pretended to want to buy meat and invited Bella into his house. Immediately she got in, Julius banged the door shut and raped her for two days running.

Bella was only saved by Julius’ younger sister, who came visiting and saw Bella in an appalling situation. She told her brother she was not feeling well and tricked him to go and buy medicines for her. When Julius left, she bravely masterminded Bella’s escape.

Julius is presently at the Buea Central Police Station, while Bella is traumatised as her education has been disrupted and is brooding on how she was going to raise a child at 14. She is half orphaned as her father is of blessed memory.

Julius’ family has, however, agreed to pay for the damages caused by their son and has taken Bella to live with them so that they can ensure a safe delivery of the baby she is carrying.

Marie, 22, said she got pregnant by error.

“I got pregnant mistakenly; a miscalculation of my fertile period,” she stated.

“I was blinded by the love I had for my boyfriend,” Marie explained. She said she feared that her parents will deal with her, but their reaction was a rather calm one as her boyfriend accepted the responsibility of the pregnancy.

While it is appalling that, Lizette, 21, is married and a mother of two already, her younger sister, Mispa, 18, is pregnant. Lizette explained: “We are orphans and have no one to take care of us or send us to school. This led to my early marriage and consequently my sister found herself in the arms of a man and later on got pregnant.”

However, the young man has accepted to take full responsibility. Cynthia, 17, got pregnant as a result of ignorance. She got into a relationship with a boy who is 20. They have been in the relationship for over two months and she is pregnant. Cynthia narrated how she was invited by her boyfriend to spend the night at his place. While there, they had unprotected sex which led to Cynthia’s early pregnancy.

Cynthia is currently living with her boyfriend because her mother could not stand the shame and sent her away. Cynthia and her boyfriend are struggling to meet the needs of their yet-to-be-born child.

Lillian, on her part, deliberately got pregnant in order to secure her space in her boyfriend’s heart. Lillian is so much in love with her boyfriend that she thinks getting pregnant for him is a solution to keep him all to her. She is pregnant, but her dream has become a nightmare as her boyfriend is currently cheating on her with so many girls.

“He barely spends time with me. It’s like the pregnancy is chasing him away,” she lamented.

Lillian is advises that no young girl should get pregnant for a boy thinking that the boy will end up marrying her. “Babies are not what make a man marry you, but love. Any girl with such an intention should quit, otherwise she will ruin her future,” she cautioned.

While, some parents say the reason why young girls get pregnant early is because their parents do not educate them, others say the children are too stubborn and do not heed to advice. Yet others hold that children of today are always eager to try out things. They get themselves engaged in relationships, sneak out without their parent’s knowledge only for parents to discover they are children pregnant.

Still, others say that the teenage stage is a very fragile period and parents should ensure that they caution their young girls well enough to avoid such embarrassing situations.