Teenage Pregnancies, by Melanie Cleary

A few months ago, I started a project photographing pregnant teenagers. In our society when schoolgirls become pregnant, they come under a lot of pressure from their communities and families.

They become financial burdens, they are a shame to the family and many times have to go through the trauma of abortions.

Teenage Pregnancies Series includes portraits of young expectant mothers, between the ages of 13 to 17. These portraits are shown alongside detailed photographs of schools and their environments that reflect the harshness, loneliness and isolation that many of them experience through their pregnancy. Many of these schoolgirls became pregnant whist having sex for the first time. One of the girls age 12 was also raped and had the baby. She is currently 14yr old.

Each subject was photographed with the permission of her family.Because the stories and issues around this subject is so layered and complex, that each girl has her unique story , it is difficult to tell them in one photograph but hopefully I have managed to portray the courage they had to be photographed.