The Pregnancy Pact

Please do not use {{Infobox television film}} directly. See the documentation for available templates. The Pregnancy Pact is a 2010 television film directed by Rosemary Rodriguez and stars Thora Birch, Madisen Beaty, and Camryn Manheim. The film is based on the true story of a 2008 media circus surrounding teenagers in Gloucester, Massachusetts who allegedly had a pregnancy pact.

Plot

Twenty eight year old Sidney Bloom (Birch), an alumna of Gloucester High, publishes a video blog about teen issues. Learning that her old high school has jumped from ten to eighteen teen pregnancies in the last eight weeks, Sidney decides to return home and investigate the situation.

Gloucester High nurse Kim (Manheim) tells Sidney that students have requested over one hundred-fifty pregnancy test kits in recent weeks. Nurse Kim desperately wants birth control to be provided in the school, only to have her request declined.

When Sidney interviews local students, she encounters a group of naive fifteen-year-old friends – Sara, Karissa, Iris and Rose – who have unrealistic ideas about a wonderful life as teen mothers. During her next video blog, Sidney bluntly states that the girls are living in a fantasy land, with no understanding of the hardships of teen motherhood.

Three of the four girls are already pregnant and they are pressuring the fourth, Sara (Beaty), to get pregnant. After getting permission from her mother Lorraine, Sara goes to her boyfriend Jesse’s house to spend some alone time with him. Her father, Michael, is upset that his daughter spends so much alone time with her boyfriend, while Sara's mother feels that Jesse has "good morals" and trusts Sara to have respect for herself. Although Jesse reassures her they will always be together, Sara is scared that she’s going to lose him and starts having sex with him, believing that getting pregnant on purpose is the only way to keep the man she loves.

Sara takes a pregnancy test in the school's bathroom with her friends anxiously waiting for the result. The test is positive, completing the circle of all fours girls being pregnant. The girls are extremely excited that they can all raise their babies together, with their kids being friends just like they are.

The girls' naive plans start to unravel. Karissa's family is already struggling financially, and her mother's boyfriend leaves her upon learning of the pregnancy. Lorraine realizes her daughter is pregnant when Sara, after cleaning away a dirty dish of onions, suddenly throws up. When Michael is told, he angrily drags his daughter to confront Jesse, accusing him of taking advantage of Sara. Lorraine and Michael viciously argue about the situation, putting blame on one another. Sara and Lorraine's relationship deteriorates as Lorraine is furious at Sara for not waiting, while Sara says that her mother never taught her about sex so she thought it proper, at fifteen, to have sex with Jesse out of love for him.

Sidney is the only voice of comfort for Sara, assuring her that her baby will be very much loved when Sara states that she plans to raise it. It is revealed that Sidney and a school faculty member, Brady, had a baby when they were sixteen. While Brady was excited about being a father, Sidney did not feel prepared for the responsibility of having a child at such a young age, giving the baby up for adoption.

Jesse tells Sara that his father is willing to pay for an abortion, while Sara asks him to cancel his plans for college and a career in baseball and spend his life with her in their small town. She redeclares her love for him and the love for their 'accidental' baby, and they continue their relationship.

Lorraine decides to hold a meeting of the school council about raising fundraising for the school's daycare. Sidney, in attendance, asks why they don't provide birth control and lets slip about Sara's pregnancy, resulting in Lorraine resigning from the council.

A news story of a pregnancy pact in Time Magazine, quoting the school's principal, states that the girls informed him that they decided to get pregnant at the same time as they would always have a baby who would love them unconditionally. Once the news of the pregnancy pact comes out, their small town is filled with print and television reporters and only causes more stress on Sara and her friends. Sara and Rose reveal to Sidney that the pregnancy pact is true, and they all got pregnant on purpose and tried to convince others to do so too. Sara insists that all she needs in life is to marry Jesse and have kids, so why wait until she grows up.

Rose has her baby and the girls get a glimpse of the hard nature of labour when Rose requires 37 stitches due to vaginal tearing. Jesse and Lorraine overhear Sidney asking Sara to do an interview on the blog so she can admit that the girls did get pregnant on purpose and to discourage other girls from getting pregnant. Jesse calls Sara a liar regarding the 'accidental' baby and wants nothing more to do with Sara. Left to raise the baby on her own, Sara starts drinking and partying, ending up in the hospital. Sara finally starts taking her pregnancy seriously and also works to repair her relationship with her parents.

Lorraine convinces the school council to keep her on the board. She fights for the school to offer birth control to any families that want it and pushes to broaden the message about abstinence beyond simply telling a teenager to wait. Sidney apologizes to Sara for making her feel she needed to clean up the whole mess herself, but Sara states that she does need to grow up and take responsibility for her own actions and is determined to be a good mother to her baby. She thanks Sidney for being her friend.

As Sidney does her wrap up interview, the epilouge reveals that the principal resigned after being scapegoated by the media. The school daycare center is full and most girls will be turned down for not getting the daycare they need. (There is a scene where Rose ignores her daughter and smokes in front of her revealing that she dropped out of high school). She then goes on to say that parents need to be more specific with their children about having a baby, she then wishes the new mothers the very best of luck. During the last few months of Sara’s pregnancy, she sees that Jesse has moved on and has a new girlfriend, but is content with her life and accepting of her choices. The film ends with Sara happily raising her baby girl, with the support of her parents.

Cast

• Thora Birch as Sidney Bloom
• Madisen Beaty as Sara Dougan
• David Clayton Rogers as Brady Leary
• Max Ehrich as Jesse Moretti
• James McCaffrey as Michael Dougan
• Camryn Manheim a Nurse Kim Daly
• Nancy Travis as Lorraine Dougan
• Michelle DeFraites as Karissa
• Jenna Leigh Hall as Iris
• Christy Carlson Romano as Reporter
• Kelly Heyer as Rose
• Tim Powell as Principal Bachman

Production

Of the the two hundred and fourteen Lifetime Original Movies released up to 2011, The Pregnancy Pact was ranked as the fourth highest rated movie on Lifetime television.

The film uses actual news footage from the time of the story, including footage of then Gloucester mayor Carolyn Kirk saying that there is no proof of a pregnancy pact and accusing school principal Bachman of giving unverified information to Time Magazine.

External links

• The Pregnancy Pact at IMDb