Transition to Motherhood in Adolescence: The Case of Peripheral Lithuania

The adolescent fertility rate (AFR) in Lithuania is 2-4 times higher than AFR in the countries of Northern and Western Europe. Furthermore, there is a high degree of regional differentiation within the country – AFR is significantly higher in peripheral rural regions and lower in the municipalities of major cities. In this paper, I aim to explore the process of becoming a mother in adolescence in peripheral, socially and economically underprivileged regions of Lithuania. Combining quantitative and qualitative research methods, I provide the overall demographic context of adolescent fertility in the country; analyse regional differentiation of adolescent births (by parity, marital status and age of the baby’s father); and explore the experiences of teenage motherhood. Based on 20 semi-structured interviews conducted in districts with high AFR with girls who had their child(ren) in adolescence, I analyse their transition from teenagerhood to sudden adulthood through the stages of conception, pregnancy, birth, early mothering experiences. Structural socio-economic inequalities are important determinants of adolescent fertility (Santelli et al. 2017) and the behavioural ecological perspective on fertility (Dickins et al. 2012) suggests, that under certain conditions (poverty, risky environment, unstable family background) early motherhood may even be an adaptive strategy. Thus, I specifically focus on the way socio-economic inequalities shape the transition to teenage motherhood.