Volu m e I - Purdue University Calumet

Amber dropped out of high school after she got pregnant. Her fiancé, Gary, is the one who goes to work to
support them. Gary and Amber constantly fight over money and issues with raising their baby Leah.
While staying home and raising Leah, Amber finally realizes how hard it is to try and raise a kid, attempts to
finish high school, and be responsible. Catelynn is the only one out of these girls who decided adoption was
the best option for her baby Carly. Throughout the show we follow Catelynn and her boyfriend Tyler
through the emotions they go through due to that choice. They are in a semi-open adoption so they still
have contact with the adoptive parents. They know they made the right choice for themselves and baby
Carly, but they are constantly hearing the opposite from their own parents. These four girls are the main
story lines that get followed throughout the show. They feel that what is portrayed of them is the real
thing. Maci Bookout said, “I was worried how the show was going to be portrayed…I didn’t know if it was
going to be glamorized or dramatic, or if they were going to tell me what to say. Everything is very
accurate and very real. They just get every single struggle that we have out in the open” (Castillo 2).
What the producers are intending to get across with this show is to paint the picture of how
important it is to prevent pregnancy. Amy Kramer, the director of Entertainment Media says, “The
overarching message of this show is that once there’s a pregnancy, all roads are hard. This show has the
potential to show in devastating clarity how important it is to prevent a pregnancy in the first place” (Inbar
3). It is important to prevent pregnancy due to the fact that, “the U.S has the highest incidence of teen
pregnancy in the world” (Inabr 3). Catelynn Lowell while being interviewed said, “I feel if you really sit
down and watch the show, I don’t think it shows any single thing of glamorizing teen pregnancy” (Inbar 3).
She also added, “I’ve had a lot of mothers tell me…They think it’s a good show to show their children- like
if you have sex and get pregnant these are all the struggles that you’re going to go through” (Inbar 1). The
producers hope that by showing the struggles that these moms go through they can prevent teen pregnancy.
But, some critics think the opposite. One of the big problems critics have is that the show does not
really reach out to the male audience (Castillo 3). Some feel it does not give a favorable portrayal of the
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