The pregnancy pact in the seaside town of Gloucester, Mass, made by 17 teenage pupils, who decided to get pregnant and to raise their babies together, was the result of a variety of factors linked to the age of the girls. In adolescence, everyone of us has some specific needs, such as the need to be loved – many teens want unconditional love and they think that having a baby will solve everything, which is not true because, as we all know, pregnancy and having a baby is all about giving, not getting –, teens also want to have friends, to have someone who understands them, to feel they are part of a community or of a group, to know more about their identity.

As a result, the decision to enter a group and to do what the rest of the group does, has a lot to do with the teenager’s need to have his/her identity confirmed.

On the other hand, a lot of teenagers look up to celebrities and they take them as models. The idea that the pact could have been influenced by the image of young and pregnant celebrities presented in the media like Jessica Alba, Jamie Lynn Spears, Ashlee Simpson, has already been launched. But the media presents only the glamorous side of becoming a mother when you’re 17, while the negative consequences are ignored.

“There is no doubt that the media influence people -- consciously and unconsciously -- to copycat what is portrayed, whether it's to become violent or to become pregnant,” Dr. Carole Lieberman, Beverly Hills psychiatrist and a clinical faculty member at UCLA, was quoted as saying by ABC News. “Movies like ‘Juno’ or ‘Knocked Up,’ soap operas, and pregnant teen celebrities like Jamie Lynn Spears make teen girls believe that getting pregnant is cool, regardless of your age, and whether you love -- or even know -- the father.”

In a typical year, Gloucester High School has about 4 pregnancies among its 1,200 students. This year, the number of pregnant teenage girls is four times higher as the year before.