Parents' Guide to

The Pregnancy Project

By Tracy Moore, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

True story about fake teen pregnancy confronts stereotypes.

Movie NR 2012 89 minutes
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What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 12+

Based on 3 parent reviews

Diana S.
Diana S. Adult
March 31, 2017
age 12+

The pregnancy project

Gabby is a strong determine woman. Who grew up babysitting her nieces and nephews. Her future had already been determine by everybody who surrounds her that she will also become a teen mom or dad, just like her 9 siblings and her mom and dad had been. But she decided she did not want to follow her family footsteps and decided she would be the first in her family to not a teen dad or mom. So she decided she would pretend to be pregnant and face the consequences of how it felt to be pregnant including all the hate, disappointment, and sorrow. She made everyone feel when she announced she was pregnant. One conflict in this book is gabby against herself. Gabby had grown tired of people around her feeding her negative comments about herself to the point where she wanted to quit pretending to be pregnant and say the truth, however the other part of her said it will all be over and all of the negative comments will be used for her science project. A central theme about the book is to not let anyone decide your fate and choose your own path for the better. I think this book is really good because it remind me of my family and I, the reason it reminds me of my family and me is because my aunts and uncles never graduated from high school and it is too late for them to return to school since now they have kids but now since we are a new generation all of us plan to go more farther that just graduating high school . I recommend this book is to not let anyone decide your fate and choose your own path for the better. I recommend this book because it reminds anyone who reads it that no one tells you what you are going to do in life besides yourself.
Serenity N.
Serenity N. Adult
February 1, 2017
age 10+
the pregnancy project is about a girl name gabby. She has about 8 brothers and sisters. Her mom had her first kid in 7th grade and was a teen mom. All of Gabby's brothers and sister follower there mother and be came teen mom or teen dad. All in total there where about 32 gran kids there mother had and had to watch. Gabby was about 9 And as grow up she know what was going on . because there was no father as a role model she had looked up to her brother. The day she told ever one about her and her pregnancy many people can to ask ''why''. Just because you parents did or are something dose not mean you have to follow in there foot steps

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much sex
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Straight-A student Gaby Rodriguez has been told time and time again not to get pregnant like her mother did as a teenager, or her sister, or her brother's wife. She and her boyfriend, Jorge (Walter Perez), are well-aware of the risks, but the lecturing doesn't stop. Tired of the assumptions that she will end up pregnant, and in need of a challenging idea for a senior project, she decides to fake her own pregnancy for senior year. Enlisting the help of her mom, friend, and boyfriend and with her teachers' approval, she endures the scrutiny and shunning of her classmates and teachers to examine and confront the stereotypes about what happens to teenage girls who find themselves pregnant and unprepared. Along the way she must reconcile the risk she takes to her reputation and the relationships she and her boyfriend must deceive to see the project through.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3):
Kids say (3):

Though many parents will find the premise of THE PREGNANCY PROJECT questionable, it's hard to deny the merit of confronting damaging stereotypes about teen pregnancies. Here, it's done in a way that touches on poverty and Hispanic communities that statistically deal more with these issues. At its core is a brilliant question that is only touched upon and never quite answered: To make a point about the risks inherent in teen pregnancy, do we have to throw teen mothers under the bus? That is to say, must we see them as tragic victims with no options, their lives squandered? Must we paint them as pathetic? Or can we show them as young women facing obstacles but not insurmountable ones? The film spends most of its time showing how hurtful these assumptions are to the women experiencing such circumstances, and near the end it finally heads in the direction it ought to get to sooner: It's just as important to provide resources for teen mothers to help them weather this obstacle as it is to preach prevention.

Exploring this topic requires navigating some mature subject matter: Sex is not discussed very explicitly, but there are lots of references to being "knocked up" or to the type of girl who finds herself there, condoms are mentioned, and one is dropped in class and handed back to a student by a teacher. A class shows teen mothers learning about gestation. The couple at the center of the film is very affectionate and presumably is sexually active. The focus here is far more about the relationships and depictions of pregnant teens and the way they're shamed and shunned than it is about providing young people with facts, so although there is a strong don't-get-pregnant-too-young, safe-sex message, this is not a good source for sex education. Better for watching with teens to bring up a more challenging level of thought surrounding all the safe-sex talk that's hopefully already happening.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about teen pregnancy. Do you think Gaby's project helps the conversation about teen pregnancy or hurts it? Why?

  • Do you think Gaby was wrong to lie about being pregnant to friends, parents, and teachers, even if the outcome was a powerful one?

  • How does this film compare to shows such as 16 and Pregnant? Do you think teen pregnancy is still as stigmatized?

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