June 20, 2008

GLOUCESTER, Mass. (AP) -- A spike in pregnancies at a Massachusetts high school is being blamed at least in part on an agreement between a group of girls to intentionally get pregnant.

Time magazine quotes the principal of Gloucester High as saying the girls decided to get pregnant and raise their babies together. The number of pregnancies at the school jumped from the usual four per year to 17.

Principal Joseph Sullivan tells the magazine that the girls were making frequent stops at the school clinic for pregnancy tests and "seemed more upset when they weren't pregnant than when they were." He says when some of the girls found out they were pregnant, they traded high fives and talked about baby showers.

The school district's superintendent says the girls involved generally "lack self-esteem," and have a lack of love in their lives. One of the fathers is identified as a 24-year-old homeless man.

(Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved.)