‘I Can’t Do Childish Stuff Anymore’ : Teen-Age Girls By the Thousands Are Getting Pregnant in L.A. The Experience Brings a Bundle of Joy and Uncertainty to Their Lives.

Javonna Clark arrived at Expressly Portraits at the Fox Hills Mall in Culver City in a brown baby-doll dress, eager to receive the free beauty makeover she had won in a store drawing.

Like other 17-year-olds enthralled with the idea of looking glamorous for a day, Clark giggled girlishly as the store’s makeup artist painted her lips ruby red and rolled her hair in curls that fell seductively against her face.

Although Clark seemed to fit the profile of a giddy teen-age girl whose biggest concern is the upcoming high school prom, her life is hardly so simple. For one thing, she recently had a baby, whom she is raising while still in high school.

“I can’t do childish stuff anymore,” said Clark, a senior at Riley High in Watts, a school for pregnant and parenting girls. “I always have to think of the baby first. Before, my friends were like, ‘Come out and party,’ and I would go. But now, I have to be more responsible.”

Although the rate of all births is on the rise, an increasing number of teen-agers have been having babies in Los Angeles County--a trend that continues to be most prevalent among African Americans and Latinas, who account for nearly nine out of 10 teen-age mothers.

In 1992, 23,970 babies were born to girls under the age of 20--an increase of 6,208 babies since 1982, according to figures from the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.

Buried beneath these figures, however, are the stories behind the pregnancies and the incidents that lead many young women to this fate. Sometimes, girls get pregnant out of ignorance, but they also have babies to hold down a man, fit in with their friends or simply have someone to love. Despite the financial drawbacks of teen pregnancy, many girls are determined to rise to the challenges of early motherhood and build futures for themselves and their babies.

Sharon (not her real name) first got pregnant at age 13. Now 16, she is the mother of two. Although Sharon is hardly naive about the challenges of being a single parent, she is convinced that if she hadn’t gotten pregnant, she would be dead.

“Having the babies stopped me from gang-banging, selling drugs, robbing people and going to jail,” she said. “I wanted a baby because I wanted something to love and care about. I started turning my life around after the babies were born because they gave me reason to live.”

Her life, however, is far from manageable, particularly in light of past tragedies that still haunt her. In May, 1993, Sharon and her twin sister were involved in a random drive-by shooting in Panorama City. Sharon was shot in the leg; her sister was killed.

“She was the ‘A’ student and I was the one who always got in trouble,” said Sharon, who school officials asked not to be identified to ensure her safety. “I was depressed after that and all stressed out. But then I got pregnant again in June, so I knew I had to pull myself together.”

Sharon enrolled at Riley High School during her second pregnancy and now hopes to earn her high school diploma through independent study at home. She lives in the Downtown area with her children, while the father of her two babies has another girlfriend and lives elsewhere.

“I want my kids to grow up as successful kids,” she said. “I don’t want them to gang-bang, and I don’t want them to rob and steal. I don’t want them to be like me.”

The girls at McAlister High School--another Los Angeles Unified School District school offering special programs for pregnant and parenting teens--attend classes in an almost surreal setting. Girls as young as 13 mingle with 17- and 18-year-olds--bonded by their swollen bellies and flushed complexions.

In home economics class, young girls sit in front of sewing machines stitching clothes that their yet-to-be-born babies will wear. In parenting class, girls “ooh” and “aah” as they look at pictures illustrating the dramatic changes taking place in their bodies.

Isabelle Carlson, an administrative assistant and former teacher at McAlister who has worked with pregnant girls since 1959, said nothing surprises her about the circumstances under which teens get pregnant.

“I once knew an 11-year-old who was pregnant,” she said. “The father was her 20-year-old cousin, and the family blamed her because they thought she seduced him.”

Carlson also knows a 17-year-old who got pregnant after being gang-raped by 10 men.

“She has no idea who the father is,” Carlson said. “We’ve also had cases where the fathers are brothers, relatives or mothers’ boyfriends.”

Although teen pregnancy is still regarded as a societal taboo, it doesn’t happen only to “bad” or promiscuous girls, said Mary Ann Shiner, principal at Riley High. Honor students get pregnant, as well as girls who agree to have sex for the first time.

As a girl growing up in South-Central, Javonna Clark was more interested in playing basketball and baseball with boys than dating them. All that changed, however, when she met Mikey Simpson on an MTA bus in July, 1993.

After talking and flirting, Simpson asked Clark for her phone number. He later called her, and she eventually agreed to go out with him--although she initially thought he looked like a “street thug.”

About a year later, Clark gave birth to Kayon, now almost 2 months old. To show his devotion to his new son, Simpson, 20, tattooed the baby’s name across his chest.

“I was a virgin until I met Mikey,” said Clark, who isn’t married to Simpson but is living with him and his mother in the Crenshaw District. “We didn’t use birth control because at the moment, I didn’t think I would get pregnant. It just happened so fast.”

Clark, who dreams of being a journalist or a probation officer, said part of the reason she decided to have sex with Simpson was because she constantly was teased about being a virgin. “My cousin is nine months younger than me, and she was like, ‘You should hurry up and try it because it’s good.’ ”

Although Clark plans to finish high school and then go to college, she knows it will be financially tough. Simpson now supports her and the baby with money he makes repairing cars.

“I’m going to be there for my son for life,” said Simpson, adding that the hardest part about being a father is coming home early. “After work, I used to hang out with my friends and play Sega. But now, I’ve got to come home. I’m still getting used to that.”

Shiner said most pregnant girls share a teen-age innocence that is juxtaposed against truly adult circumstances. Although anxious about their futures, the vast majority of the girls plan to keep their babies even if they have no means to support them, she said.

“Twenty-five years ago, practically all of the girls gave up their babies for adoption, but that’s totally turned around now,” Shiner said. “Even though the majority of fathers are not involved in the girls’ lives, most girls are happy about being pregnant because they think it’s going to be great.”

Virginia Rangel, a 16-year-old Riley High student, said she planned her pregnancy because everyone around her seemed to be having babies.

“I just wanted one,” said Rangel, who is four months pregnant. “It won’t be tough because I’ve got everybody’s support. I’m happy about it.”

Along with having to grow up too fast, the biggest consequences of teen-age pregnancy are that it often deters girls from finishing high school and traps them on welfare, educators and social service workers say.

Up to half of all pregnant and parenting teens drop out of school before they receive their high school diplomas, said Gail Buckley, associate director of El Nido Family Services, a Los Angeles agency with programs encouraging youth abstinence.

And more than half of the funds dispersed by the Aid to Families with Dependent Children welfare program go to families formed by a teen-age birth, according to a 1994 study by the Alan Guttmacher Institution, a nonprofit research and policy organization in New York. Nearly 60% of teen mothers already live in poverty at the time they give birth, the study said.

“I don’t think getting pregnant as a teen-ager is a good thing because the girls get stuck on welfare,” Shiner said. “But not all of them have been beaten down by it. I admire these girls because they’re the ones who have the courage to come to school.”

McAlister and Riley schools, which both opened in 1972, enroll about 1,500 pregnant girls between the ages of 12 and 18. Riley has campuses in Gardena, Watts and El Sereno, while McAlister has campuses in Southwest Los Angeles, Reseda, San Fernando and one west of Downtown.

Although pregnant teens can attend regular schools, many select McAlister and Riley because they offer special parenting and pregnancy programs such as Lamaze and child nutrition. The girls can also attend school without being harassed or judged by their peers and teachers.

Ana Siliezar, a 16-year-old at McAlister who is eight months pregnant with her second child, said she enrolled at the school because the staff care about her and understand her situation.

“If I have a problem, they can help me,” said Siliezar, who first got pregnant at 13. “I’m learning a lot of parenting skills and the people here make me feel like I’m going to make it.

“When you’re pregnant, you can’t go anywhere and you feel like you have nothing. But that’s not true, because you have a baby. You have to feel proud and just thank God you can have babies.”

Like Siliezar, most of the pregnant or parenting teens interviewed for this article did not regard their situation with regret or sadness. Rather, they were stoic and forthright when asked about their pregnancies, and they discussed their unborn or newborn babies with the same excitement a young girl might exude after being promised a new doll.

Victoria Andres, 17, who has a 5-month-old daughter, decided against abortion because she was attracted to the idea of “having a baby that would be half (her).”

“I wanted someone to call me Mommy,” said Andres, who lives at St. Anne’s, a nonprofit residential facility near Downtown for pregnant and parenting girls. “It probably would have been better if I waited, but I don’t regret it.”

Jessica Molina, 17, also didn’t plan her pregnancy, but in the back of her mind she thought that having a baby might make her boyfriend love her more.

However, when Molina found out she was expecting, he dumped her and her father disowned her. Still, she decided to keep the baby because, she said, “If I can go sleep with guys, then I have to take the responsibility.”

“I was thinking that if I had a baby, my boyfriend would get out of the gangs and get straight A’s, but he’s acting even more immature now,” said Molina, who is due next month and also lives at St. Anne’s. “I want to give my baby the love and support my father never gave me.”

Shiner said most girls come to Riley totally unaware of the childbirth process, and many aren’t even clear about birth control.

“One girl told me she had a new boyfriend, so she said she had to stop taking the pill,” Shiner said. “I said, ‘What? Explain this to me.’ And she told me that she thought she needed to get a new pill for each boyfriend.”

In an effort to reduce the number of teen-age pregnancies, the state is sponsoring an educational campaign to encourage junior high students to postpone sex. The 2-year-old program, called Education Now And Babies Later, already has reached more than 186,000 teens in 30 counties, said Julie Linderman, a health education consultant for the California Office of Family Planning.

“We’re trying to change the trend toward earlier and earlier sexuality,” she said. “We’re trying to get the message across that you don’t have to have sex to be popular.”

In April, state legislators also passed a law enabling pregnant and parenting teens to receive up to $400 more in their welfare checks if they maintain a C average or better in school. The Cal Learn program, which will take effect in every county by April, 1995, will also award pregnant or parenting girls who graduate from high school a $500 cash bonus.

To deter potential dropouts, Cal Learn also mandates that money be taken out of the welfare checks of girls who don’t maintain a C average or who are not enrolled in school. An estimated 11,000 pregnant and parenting teens in Los Angeles County now receive Aid to Families with Dependent Children, according to Buckley of El Nido Family Services.

“I don’t think it’s enough money to offset the other things going on in the girls’ lives,” Buckley said. “During the first year, it’s going to be very hard for these teens to go back to school. But we need to look at the program five years down the road and see where we are.”

Help for Pregnant Teen-Agers

Teen-agers who become pregnant can receive help, counseling and education through the following institutions. * Thomas Riley High School

East: 4502 Multnomah St.

(213) 222-9797

Gardena: 1618 W. 184th St.

(310) 324-8942

Watts: 1524 E. 103rd St.

(213) 563-3267

* Harold McAlister High School

San Fernando: 11011 O’Melveny

(818) 365-0731

Reseda: 7325 Calvin Ave.

(818) 886-2573

Southwest: 4525 Pinafore St.

(213) 293-5992

Mid-City/Downtown:

2808 Glassell St.

(213) 381-2823

* St. Anne’s

155 N. Occidental Blvd.

(213) 381-2931

* Teen-Age Health Center

Childrens Hospital L.A.

4650 Sunset Blvd.

(213) 669-2153