Homepage > Thai Youth Issues > Charity sees schoolgirl baby boom

24th February 2001, The Nation

"THE day I gave birth to my son coincided with my school examinations. I had to get out of bed the next day in order to complete my tests," said young mother Noy.

Noy, 18, is a Matthayom 6 (Grade 12) student in a Bangkok school.

After giving birth five months ago, she left her son, Nong Best, in the care of the Holt Sahathai Foundation. She visits him once a month and contributes Bt500 a month for his care.

Noy said she planned to bring up her son once she had completed her secondary education and enrolled in a university.

To this day Noy's parents, the child's father and other family members are unaware of Noy's pregnancy and the subsequent birth.

Noy said she was waiting for the right moment, possibly after her high-school graduation, to break the news to everyone.

"I broke up with my boyfriend three months before I realised that I was pregnant," she said, adding that she might one day inform her ex-boyfriend about their son.

Noy, like hundreds of other young girls, has gone through the bitter experience of having to cope with an unplanned pregnancy.

The Holt Sahathai Foundation, a charity, helps young unmarried mothers to cope with their situation. It provides counselling and arranges child-care.

In a case where the mother or her family is unable to support the child, it will put the child up for adoption.

Daeng, 19, is a factory worker who has also been helped by the charity.

Unlike Noy, who described her pregnancy as the outcome of teenage love, Daeng said she was drugged and raped by her boyfriend.

"I was 17, and my boyfriend was 22. He took advantage of me after putting me to sleep," she said.

Daeng said she had been devastated when she discovered that her boyfriend was a married man who refused to take responsibility for her pregnancy.

"I was at a loss what to do as I could not afford to raise a child," she said. "For months the world seemed to have collapsed on me until someone directed me to the foundation."

The foundation has about 110 children in its care.

Many have physical deformities as the result of undernourishment during pregnancy or of physical constraint as the mother tried to hide her condition.

Boonlom Gansaksaran, the foundation's social worker, said the number of young unmarried mothers was on the rise. She said it was an alarming trend

Between 1977 and 1987 most single mothers were factory workers in their early twenties, Boonlom said.

However, in the past decade most have been students, she said, and she is concerned that 15- to 18-year-olds are now as much at risk as those aged from 19 to 22.

Many of the accidental pregnancies are the result of young girls making hasty decisions to have premarital sex, often when they were under the influence of drugs and alcohol, she said.

Boonlom said they were unprepared for the consequences.

"Once these girls realise they are pregnant, most of them believe that the world has come to an end as they can never erase what society sees as a sin," she said.

The foundation has a counselling programme for unplanned pregnancy, helping girls to realise that there are options other than abortion or suicide, she said.

Thicha na Nakorn, the foundation's assistant director, said her office would help single mothers to develop the stamina to cope with unplanned babies.

As well as counselling and child care, the foundation will also arrange living quarters for girls who are not ready to break the news to their families.

After the birth, the organisation will look after the baby until adoption has been arranged or the mother can claim the child.

"We try to guide unmarried mothers to see that they and their children have a future despite the trauma and scars of unplanned pregnancy," Thicha said.

Last year the foundation helped 24 single mothers, some as young as 14, to overcome their situation and start a new life.

Public donations are welcomed as the cost of child care amounts to Bt4,000 per month for every child.

Interested donors can call 381 8834-6 to pledge money or seek further information about adoption.

BY BENJAWAN SOMSIN

The Nation