A study of British Columbia students has found that lesbian and bisexual youths are up to seven times more likely to get pregnant than their heterosexual counterparts, reports The Vancouver Sun.
The research was gleaned from the health surveys of 30,000 students in seventh through 12th grades during 1992, 1998, and 2003, and the study's results appeared in The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality.
Elizabeth Saewyc, lead author of the study, partially attributed the trend to an attempt by LGB youth to mask their sexuality in order to fit in and thwart discrimination.
"For some gay, lesbian, and bisexual teens it's camouflage," Saewyc, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia, told the Sun, "because it's still pretty stigmatized and they still face a lot of harassment at school."
Heterosexual girls still made up the bulk of the pregnancies, but the incidence was higher among the 3.5% who said they were lesbian or bisexual. In the 1998 survey, for instance, 10.6% of girls who identified as bisexual reported a pregnancy, as did 7.3% of lesbians, while only 1.8% of heterosexual girls conceived.
The study also found an increased likelihood that boys would cause pregnancy if they identified as gay or bisexual. (Advocate.com)
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