Teen Fakes Pregnancy

[tyketime]

Wow - I certainly admire her courage & determination. Something tells me she has a bright future ahead of her:

A senior at a south-central Washington high school faked her pregnancy for the past six months as a social experiment for her senior project.

Gaby Rodriguez revealed she was not pregnant Wednesday by taking off the belly bundle in front of a stunned student assembly at Toppenish High School in Yakima, Wash., that ended with a standing ovation.

For six-and-a-half months, Gaby wore a homemade prosthetic "bulge," made out of wire mesh and cotton quilt batting. The Yakima Herald-Republic reported only a handful of people knew Gaby was faking, including her mother, boyfriend and the principal. They helped keep the secret from some of her own siblings and her boyfriend's family and students and teachers.

"I'm fighting against those stereotypes and rumors because the reality is I'm not pregnant," Gaby revealed to the nearly 700 students at her school on Thursday. She had told her class she was due on July 27.

The surprise presentation was part of her report about the perceptions of a pregnant student. The 17-year-old A-student will share her findings in May before she graduates.

Gaby's mom, Juanita Rodriguez, agreed it was difficult to lie to the family and said "it didn't feel good," but she felt she needed to back her daughter.

Gaby's story caught the attention of media outlets across the country. "It's gone big; it's been quite a day," school principal Trevor Greene told The Herald-Republic. "We didn't anticipate that by the end of the day we'd be getting calls from, like, the TODAY show."

At least one college recruiter wanted to speak with Gaby, and a local business owner was so impressed with her that she wanted to offer Gaby a college scholarship, The Herald reported.

Gaby and her boyfriend, 20-year-old Jorge Orozco, met at the high school's homecoming football game when she was a freshman and he was a senior, and have dated for three years. She said she is excited she doesn't have to go to prom pregnant, and looks forward to wearing a form-fitting gown.

"In essence, she gave up her senior year," Principal Greene told the Herald-Republic. "She sacrificed her senior year to find out what it would be like to be a potential teen mom. I admire her courage. I admire her preparation. I give her mother a lot of credit for backing her up on this." He added, however, "I have a daughter that will be here next year, and I would not let her do it."

[Swaggs]

Pretty cool.

I'm sure some folks will bash her, but her curiousity and dedication are really admirable (particularly at that age).

[MIJB#19]

Did anyone else immediately think of Lindsay Lohan?

[jeff061]

I think the boyfriend's family just may murder her.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

Did anyone else immediately think of Lindsay Lohan?

I immediately thought of Just One of the Guys.

[jeff061]

I remember in high school this straight As, athletic (and hot to boot) girl in my class opened up and told everyone she was addicted to drugs. Teacher was stumbling over herself trying to deal with the issue, everyone was taking it seriously. At the end of all these awkward moments "LOL just joking, social experiment".

Honestly, I thought it was a dick move.

[Ksyrup]

I remember that the girl who was voted friendliest girl in my senior class got pregnant the summer after we graduated.

[Suicane75]

Not so sure i'd go as far as admire her, it's interesting though. The one school where she can't just ask a classmate.

[sterlingice]

It does take a little bit of sociopath to lie to a lot of people like that. Ends justify the means?

SI

[Suicane75]

I don't know. But I certainly would not be happy if I was the boys parents. Although I suppose a lot of that is on him.

[King of New York]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

I'm sure some folks will bash her.

I'll take a shot at it

The fact that she revealed the truth by getting up in front of the whole student assembly and taking off the padding in full view of everyone suggests to me that narcissism and a desire for attention, rather wanting to "study the plight of pregnant teenagers," was behind this stunt.

If she wants to study teenage pregnancy, she could, you know, talk to teenagers who are actually pregnant--but that would have put the focus on them rather than on her.

And deceiving people during the course of "social scientific research," to use the term loosely in this context, is really, really problematic.

So: not cool, not courageous, not helpful.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I remember that the girl who was voted friendliest girl in my senior class got pregnant the summer after we graduated.

Apparently, she was indeed very friendly.

[Swaggs]

Yeah, admirable is probably a poor word choice on my part.

I'm just saying that it is somewhat impressive that she was curious enough to be interested in how people treat you differently when you become pregnant as a teenage AND that she actually stuck with it for 6-months. Most teens won't stick with a hairstyle or favorite band for more than a month, so the fact that she kept "in character" and lived that way for so long is pretty impressive (and probably a trait, among the other negative ones that have been fairly discussed, that will probably make her successful in school and life).

I certainly think the way she revealed her deception and the attention she seems to be seeking do seem narcissistic. As for the boyfriend (and his family) and her family, the fact that she is 17-years old (while he is 20) and was perceived to be pregnant for 6.5 months is a little weird, too.

[Autumn]

I don't think that's necessarily attention seeking. It would be a bit confusing if she had just come to school without the belly the next day and spent the next two weeks explaining to people individually what happened.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Autumn

I don't think that's necessarily attention seeking. It would be a bit confusing if she had just come to school without the belly the next day and spent the next two weeks explaining to people individually what happened.

Actually it would be another interesting social experiment if she just showed up one day with out the belly and saw how the rumors spread.

[lighthousekeeper]

John Quinones Approves

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by King of New York

I'll take a shot at it

The fact that she revealed the truth by getting up in front of the whole student assembly and taking off the padding in full view of everyone suggests to me that narcissism and a desire for attention, rather wanting to "study the plight of pregnant teenagers," was behind this stunt.

If she wants to study teenage pregnancy, she could, you know, talk to teenagers who are actually pregnant--but that would have put the focus on them rather than on her.

And deceiving people during the course of "social scientific research," to use the term loosely in this context, is really, really problematic.

So: not cool, not courageous, not helpful.

I disagree.

I think you need to wait until she publishes her findings in May (or writes her article for the Sun Tribune, whichever comes first,) before you judge the merits of her experiment.

There have been dozens, if not hundreds, of very beneficial social and psychological experiments based on some form of deception or another.

There are just somethings you can't get from talking with people or interveiwing them.

[Pumpy Tudors]

DECEIVING PEOPLE IS WRONG AND THEY SHOULD CALL A BALK AGAINST HER AND ADVANCE EVERYONE ELSE ONE BASE

[Young Drachma]

To her credit, she didn't just try this and tell no one. She went to the principal and superintendent and got their approval to do the experiment BEFORE she went through with it. Her family knew. I think she knew the stigma of what people would say, the perception of her being who she is, having an older boyfriend and I can only imagine a lot of people said mean things to her face and behind her back. I bet a lot of those folks weren't just kids, either.

Because she's not pregnant, will likely go off to college and has an interesting story to tell will give her credibility that might help her benefit girls who aren't as fortunate to be able to "take off" their "baby" after 6.5 months.

So I'm sure some people who are there who were amongst those probably have mixed feelings now, as they'll have to come to grips with what she did and said. I'm impressed they managed to pull it off without anyone know in an era where secrets can be hard to keep.