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VANCOUVER – Lesbian and bisexual youth are up to seven times more likely to get pregnant than their heterosexual peers, a study of British Columbia students has found.

The surprising findings were published in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality. The data used for the research were gathered from adolescent health surveys done in B.C. schools in 1992, 1998, and 2003.

The heightened risk is explained by several factors, including an attempt among closeted gay, lesbian and bisexual teens to prove they are heterosexual to avoid harassment and discrimination.

“For some gay, lesbian and bisexual teens it’s camouflage,” said Elizabeth Saewyc, lead author of the study and an associate professor at the University of B.C.’s school of nursing, “because it’s still pretty stigmatized and they still face a lot of harassment at school.”

Results from the surveys, which were conducted anonymously among about 30,000 students in grades 7 through 12, indicated as well that boys are more likely to cause a pregnancy if they identify as gay or bisexual.

In the 1998 survey, 10.6 per cent of girls who identified as bisexual reported pregnancy, and 7.3 per cent of lesbians reported pregnancy. Among the heterosexual girls, 1.8 per cent reported pregnancy.

In total, more heterosexual girls got pregnant, but the likelihood was greater among lesbian or bisexual girls, who made up 3.5 per cent of the females surveyed.

The survey data did not provide Saewyc with concrete explanations for the heightened risk of pregnancy among gay, lesbian and bisexual youth, but she said there are several possible reasons.

Teenagers who are unsure about their sexual orientation will often experiment with heterosexual sex, Saewyc said.

In some cases, girls will deliberately attempt to get pregnant in an effort to create a new family or identity for themselves.

“Some people will reach for an identity that has more respect, more positive value. And in our society, what’s more valued than fatherhood or motherhood? We have holidays for them,” Saewyc said.

“So even though teen parenthood isn’t very valued and it’s not all that respected, per se, it is a more positive identity in some places than being gay, lesbian or bisexual.”

Another explanation for the higher rate of pregnancy could be sexual abuse, which is significantly more prominent among gay, lesbian and bisexual youth.

Lydia Luk, outreach coordinator with Gab Youth Services in Vancouver, says she knows of a handful of gay, lesbian and bisexual youth who have been involved in pregnancies, but it is far from a widespread problem.

Instead, she says, the main problem for gay, lesbian and bisexual teens is continuing stigma and discrimination — which might then lead to pregnancy.

“We need to look at the issue and why it’s happening,” she said. “The stigma is still there. It doesn’t look the same, but it’s still there.”

Luk said discrimination against gay, lesbian and bisexual teens is more subtle than it used to be, and it can still be very difficult — particularly in rural areas — to talk to family and friends about one’s sexual orientation.
(from the Vancouver Sun)

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I posted this article earlier with a comment that says “This is an example of incomplete, hastily-conclusive and we-just-want-to-get-it-out-without-validating-data research”, but a reader corrected me and it seems like it is statistically sound (she read the whole research). I just wish the article made the research sound as intelligent as it supposedly is.

But guys, remember that correlation still does not equal causation. The cause-effect can be the other way around: anybody considered if a greater percentage of women, after finding themselves pregnant, decide to start identifying as lesbian? Sounds ridiculous, but this is just to show that hasty conclusions about correlation can be just as stupid.

On a side note, I know of a lesbian who got pregnant because she got raped by a male friend. But she chose to keep the baby. I hope everything turns out okay for her.

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Hard facts are hard facts until we decide to do something about them.

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