Unplanned Pregnancy Statistics

Surprise Pregnancy: Do You Know the Facts?

April 21, 2010

For all of the planning, temperature taking, and charting many women go through to become pregnant, unplanned pregnancies also happen. Fifty-eight percent of LilSugar readers have had surprise pregnancies and shows like MTV's 16 and Pregnant make accidental pregnancies more evident. Test your knowledge by taking this quiz.

8 Comments

danakscully64 3 years 4 weeks

Exactly. It's almost always failed users, not failed birth control. People skip pills, don't put on condoms right, don't use condoms every time, don't "renew" The Shot on time, etc. It happens a lot, people get lax about it, think they won't get pregnant.

runningesq 3 years 4 weeks

I agree, danakscully -- I guessed 7% and I think that's closer to the truth. Forgetting the pill 1-2x/ week doesn't count as "using contraception."

Bettye Wayne 3 years 4 weeks

#4, I can't believe 30% of unmarried pregnancies are intentional.

danakscully64 3 years 4 weeks

I think the statistic about failed birth control is off. I highly doubt that half of the people who had unintended pregnancies were using birth control 100% of the time and correctly when they got pregnant. My brother and his (now) wife swore they were using birth control when they got pregnant with my oldest nephew. Years later, my sister in law confessed they weren't using it every time. The girls on 16 and Pregnant say they same thing. They either weren't using BC at all or every time.

MissSushi 3 years 4 weeks

Same here, shannon... We were surprised because it had been over 2 years of trying with no results. I changed jobs, we quit trying, and were planning a move to another state when we got pregnant. We figured we had fertility problems that we would tackle when we moved and were situated with insurance again.. lol.

shannonkay 3 years 4 weeks

Even if you know there's a possibility of getting pregnant, you could still not be actively trying and thus be surprised. My husband and I haven't been using birth control for about a year, and I haven't got pregnant yet. We're not trying, but we're not trying to avoid it either. We want kids, so if it happens soon, that's okay. If not, that's okay too. I'm actually kind of surprised, I guess getting pregnant is not as easy as I thought.

Soniabonya 3 years 4 weeks

Because they believe it won't happen to them. Faith? :shrug: From the moment we had sex ed, I knew that I would want there to be some form of contraception being used. Always.