It is impossible to know what these girls were thinking, what could have driven them to such a desperate act. One mother said she had seen her teenage daughter naked the night before she gave birth and had not noticed anything remarkable about the girl's figure. Women will wear baggy clothes or starve themselves to limit their weight gain. According to Harris, young women will also disguise their morning sickness and go to great lengths to cover up other indications that might indicate that they were pregnant. No one knows why these young women conceal their pregnancies and disavow the life inside them.
Psychologists point to feelings of denial, fear, confusion, and isolation.
She doesn't think of it as her child but as an object to get rid of. The young woman may find herself giving birth in a college dormitory, at her parents' home, or in a department store bathroom. The tiny body is thrown into a trash compactor, a dumpster, stashed away in a dresser drawer, or even tossed out of a window. Approximately 250 cases of neonaticide are reported to the Department of Justice each year, but it is impossible to know the real number of newborns killed by their parents. Some bodies are never found.