In S.K., an estimated 3,400 births per year among 15-to-19-year-olds
At first, she refused to meet face-to-face with a Hankyoreh reporter. She said she would allow an interview only through online messaging. But after more than one hour of interviewing conducted on the Internet, she finally agreed that The Hankyoreh could use the real names of herself and her husband. "I didn’t commit a crime, and would like to show our respectable life to our baby," she said. Yu Seon-hi, now 17, found out she was pregnant in May 2004, when she was in her third year of middle school. Yu, surprised and frightened at the time, decided to give birth to the baby after discussion with the baby’s father, Gang Byeong-tae, who is now 19. "We thought that it would be a crime for our baby if I have an abortion," she said.But both Yu’s and Gang’s parents opposed the birth, so the two ran away from home, "to protect the baby," Yu explained. They had no choice but to leave their schools, and Gang found work as a waiter and a construction worker. Yu lied about her age because of the "cold stares" of her neighbors due to the combination of her youth and pregnancy. Suffering under economic hardship, they asked a government office for help, but received little benefit. Two years after the unexpected pregnancy, they returned to their town and made a home for themselves. Last year, they legally became a married couple and Yu gave birth to a second child. Gang is employed, but their economic hardship still remains. Dubbed "Little Moms," the majority of teenaged mothers are those who give birth out of wedlock. The number of teenaged mothers such as Yoo is growing, as South Korea’s young people are becoming increasingly liberal regarding sexual issues. However, there is no social support net to answer these societal changes. According to government statistics, the number of youths aged between 15 and 19 stood at some 1.5 million in 2005. Given the birth rate for that age group of 2.3 per 1,000 people, about 3,400 teenage girls give birth per year. Given the 5-year spread of the 15-to-19-year-old age group, girls currently in that group have given birth to 17,000 children. However, motherhood is a rarity in cases of teenage pregnancy. According to the Korea Youth Development Institute and the Korea Social Welfare Committee, as many as 80 percent of pregnant youths get an abortion, and if birth is chosen, some 80 give their child up for adoption. Given these statistics, there are only four to five mothers out of 100 cases of teenage pregnancy. According to a report by Rep. Shin Hak-yong of the ruling Uri Party, the number of teenaged mothers that have chosen to raise their children is believed to total 5,000 to 6,000 nationwide. Centers that help teenaged mothers in Seoul and Gwangju back up those statistics, estimating the national figure to be 6,000. Currently, about 4,800 teenaged mothers are members of an online support group at the nation’s largest Internet web site, Cyworld. Despite their courage in choosing to raise their child, teenaged mothers are still struggling with negative attitudes from their families and schools. According to an online survey of 60 teenaged mothers, conducted by Catholic University of Korea student Park Jong-in, only three said that they told their parents about their pregnancy. None of them contacted consultation facilities for unwed mothers. The majority of them talked with their boyfriends or classmates and tried to resolve the situation on their own. Asked about the most difficult thing in raising their children as a teenaged mother, 58.1 percent said economic problems. Another 16.6 percent said that sharing the burden of childcare with a partner or husband was difficult, as well. The government has neither exact statistics for teenaged mothers nor support programs in place. Around the nation, there are about 10 facilities to help unwed mothers give birth and nine facilities for them to stay one year after childbirth. However, there is no such facility specializing in teenagers. "Our society just scolds underage mothers. In the meantime, about 6,000 young people are being ignored, without having access to education," said Lee Seon-hi, head of a facility for unwed mothers in Gwangju. Lee pointed out that there should be support programs for teenaged mothers. Rep. Shin also urged the government to set up measures to help teenaged parents raise their children.
