It’s a big problem, if the child has no family, no nothing, it is better to give them to the government

Many of the young women spoke of their frustration at being labelled as the sole perpetrators of their predicament by their community, their family and their boyfriends/partners.

Most of the women were completely unprepared for pregnancy, no one had told them about sex, conception, birth control or pregnancy.

Understanding of how conception takes place was often incorrect with many believing that ‘you have to have sex many times to make a baby’.

Adoption was viewed with great mistrust due to its permanence and its disconnecting of the child from their ancestors.

• Adoption was viewed with great mistrust due to its permanence and its disconnecting of the child from their ancestors.

• Most of the young women felt that foster care was a better alternative as this allowed a mother to retrieve her children later.

• I was repeatedly told that a child must be introduced to its father’s ancestors if it is to live a full and happy life:

• Thlabi (2013) notes that even if a girl has been raped, her family will try to get the guilty party to acknowledge paternity once the child has been born.
• Especially in the case of a male child, only once their paternal lineage is determined and appropriated do they have an identity.
• A woman who has not been introduced to her ancestors may still get married, but she could suffer many still born children, as it is very bad luck.
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