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Boston: The mayor of a Massachusetts city that drew attention for a spike in teenage pregnancies denied on Monday a media report that a group of girls entered a pact to become pregnant.
"I am not able to confirm the existence of a pact," Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk told reporters after meeting with local school and health officials to discuss a June 18 Time magazine report about teenagers who entered a pact to get pregnant and raise babies together.
She added, "Any planned blood-oath bond to become pregnant, there is absolutely no evidence of," blaming a rise in pregnancies on a lack of health education funding and the media's "glamorisation of pregnancy."
At least 17 high-school girls, none older than 16, are expecting babies. The 1,200-student high school has four times as many teenage girls expecting babies than last year.
Gloucester Public Schools Superintendent Christopher Farmer told the news conference there was a "distinct possibility" some of the pregnant high-school girls decided to "come together for mutual support" after becoming pregnant.
It was also clear some of the girls were not trying very hard not to become pregnant, he said. Some gave high-fives and planned baby showers, he added. Others appeared upset if their pregnancy tests at the high school health clinic produced negative results.
But Time magazine did not distinguish between "a pact to become pregnant or a pact because we are pregnant," he said.
Kirk declined to comment on specific cases, including the ages of the fathers. Local officials have said at least some of the men were in their mid-20s, including one man who appeared to be homeless. Others were boys in the school.
Time also reported Monday that Pathways for Children chief executive Sue Todd, whose organisation runs the high school's onsite daycare centre, told the magazine on June 13 that its social worker had heard of the girls' plan to get pregnant as early as last fall.
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