She says she regrets not listening to her parents' advice to be abstinent. The Cooper High School junior still looks every bit a teen-ager with her small frame and shiny fuschia fingernails. Ribera mirrors a common experience among teen mothers, experts say. Buoyed by the invincibility of youth, they don't think pregnancy can happen to them. Statistics show teen births have declined in the United States, but have remained roughly constant in Taylor County.
Studies show teen-age pregnancy often leads to health problems as well as poverty and child abuse.
In response to both the numbers and the resulting social ills, the Abilene community has rallied by providing comprehensive services to aid young parents. How times have changed Teen mothers walking through Margaret Johnson's door at Pregnancy Counseling Service of Abilene have gotten younger over the years. Adolescent girls are having sex much earlier, she says. Their attitudes have changed as well. Even so, Taylor County's number of teen births has remained relatively static.