MTV's Docu-Series 16 AND PREGNANT Returns March 27

MTV's docu-series "16 and Pregnant" will return on Tuesday, March 27 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, with 12 episodes featuring new girls, new stories, and new struggles. The series continues to give viewers a look inside the lives of teens as they face unexpected pregnancies and become parents at a young age. "16 and Pregnant" kicks off the season with two back-to-back episodes. Additionally, the network greenlit "Teen Mom 3," a new series that will document the challenges of four new teens who are struggling to navigate parenthood. Details on "Teen Mom 3" will be announced at a later time.

This season on "16 & Pregnant," viewers will watch these young moms face the dramatic ups and downs of being a teen parent. In one story, a pregnant teen will determine if adoption is the right choice for her, because she fears her boyfriend will continue to be unreliable. Another young woman will cope with her decision to keep her baby while her sister deals with the fact that she chose not to continue her pregnancy. Viewers will also meet a girl whose dream of going to college is suddenly halted after she becomes a teen mom, and another young woman who fights to raise her baby while dealing with a drug addicted parent and another young girl struggles with her mother's disapproval of her relationship with her baby's father. 

According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, more than 700,000 teenage girls in the U.S. become pregnant each year and one out of every ten children in the U.S. is born to a teenage mother. The vast majority of these pregnancies are unintended. "16 and Pregnant" has been cited by experts as having an impact on the recent decline of teen birth rate, and a study in 2010 by the National Campaign found that 82% of teens who have watched the series think the show helps teens better understand the challenges of teen pregnancy and parenthood and how to avoid it. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) recently announced that the U.S. teen birth rate declined 9 percent in 2010 and is now at the lowest level ever reported. Experts from the National Campaign cite the "Teen Mom" franchise as one of the key factors contributing to this steep decline.

More information about sexual health issues affecting young people, including unintended pregnancy, is available at http://www.itsyoursexlife.com, a public information resource developed by MTV and the Kaiser Family Foundation. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy is working with the show to provide additional information.