Tuesday, May 1, 2012

The Pregnancy Project

By Gaby Rodriguez
Simon & Schuster, 2012. 218 pgs. Biography.

Gaby has been surrounded by the topic of teen pregnancy her whole life. Her mom had her first child at 14 and most of her older brothers and sisters had babies as teens or young adults. Gaby is determined to break the cycle and works hard in school so she can go to college. When it is time to do her senior project however, she decides to do a social experiment to see how people would treat her if she became pregnant. She wanted to see what stereotypes she would face and what, if any, support she would face as a teen mom.

With her mother and boyfriends permission, Gaby decides to fake being pregnant for 6 months of her senior year. She talked with her doctor and a mentor at the hospital to be sure that she was showing the adequate symptoms at the right time. She saw first-hand how difficult it is emotionally to deal with being a pregnant teen. When she presented her project at a school assembly her classmates and teachers alike were shocked to learn about her experiment. Some were angry that she had lied to them, but many were amazed at her bravery and learned a lot about living above stereotypes. I found this book to be fascinating! Gaby’s story has been made into a Lifetime movie and you can find news clips of interviews she did after revealing her secret. This is a hopeful book about how we can each be kinder to those around us and rise above our circumstances.

AMM

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