Third Mom wrote an Open Mike post in which she asked: Is A Woman Ever Too Young to Parent. After a series of comments, she wrote a follow up post regarding the question at hand which included her beliefs on what to do with very young teen pregnancy.

It's a touchy subject, at best. Even I, a first mother who has placed a child for adoption (and a Mom who has a parented child and an angel in Heaven), get somewhat bent out of shape when a teenager that I am in contact with is suddenly pregnant. I don't experience infertility or any of the deep rooted issues that surround the topic and I still get twinges of, "Well, that doesn't seem fair."

However, that feeling doesn't answer the questions of teenage pregnancy. It doesn't solve the problems. It doesn't erase the issue. Third Mom is spot on by bringing up this question, in the light of adoption issues, and trying to come up with ideas on how to handle it, personal emotions aside.

Her list of conclusions is to be commended and should be read by a large portion of the blogging world, if not the entire blogging world:

* Pre-teens and teens are children, and common sense tells us that children should not be parents. Preventing pregnancy in teen and pre-teens must be the focus of this issue.

* However, when a young girl does become pregnant, we need to look carefully at the circumstances to ensure we are doing all we can to prevent them in the future.

* We also need to accept that once a girl has experienced pregnancy, hiding her in secrecy and covering her in shame won't bring her childhood back.

* We must therefore preserve her relationship with her child, rather than destroy it in an effort to pretend the pregnancy never happened.

The words above, spoken with both the teen and child in heart and mind are laced with both logic and compassion. However, Third Mom states, at the end of her post, that she's still left feeling somewhat uneasy.

Logical, yes, but it still leaves me uneasy. For how could any approach that leaves in its wake one child forced into adulthood and another separated from its mother do otherwise?

It's true. Of course, any approach to a teen pregnancy will force that child into adulthood. Abortion is an adult decision that involves emotions that are very adult-like. Adoption still involves the mother giving birth to a child and experiencing something that is also usually reserved for adult hearts and minds. And parenting, of course, is also a launch into the adult world. I don't think you can get away from the "forcing a child into adulthood" problem when dealing with teen pregnancy in general. (Which is why greater sex education is needed, as Third Mom knowingly stated!)

In short, this is a fresh outlook because, on the whole, not many people, on the blog or the real world, are taking time or space to discuss this subject at hand. It is too often viewed as something to keep hush-hush, as if by neglecting to talk about teen pregnancy, teens won't have sex and thus become pregnant. It doesn't work that way. Those of us in the adoption world should definitely understand that, whether we're birth or adoptive parents. More of us should be talking about the issues of young (not necessarily teen, even) pregnancy, sex education and how separating parents from their children at any age will have life long effects.