Fear, embarrassment and a lack of funds often stop teens from going into a store to buy condoms or from making a doctor's appointment to explore birth control options.
Teenagers tend to let sex happen without taking the necessary precautions, experts say.
But we do have options. Family planning clinics offer inexpensive, confidential birth control counseling. Here's an inside look at my visit to one of these clinics. When I first received this assignment, my first obstacle was to find out where to go. I had no idea where to start, so I went to the trusty yellow pages.