Rates of voluntary paternity establishment for infants born to unmarried adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate factors associated with voluntary paternity establishment for infants born to teenagers.


METHODS
The medical records of 402 unmarried women aged 13-19 years and delivering between January 1 and July 31, 2000, were reviewed, including prenatal charts, delivery records, birth worksheets, affidavits of parentage and infant birth certificates. The primary outcome was voluntary paternity establishment, as defined by having the father's name on the infant's birth certificate.


RESULTS
Separate documents from the medical records of teen mothers had different rates of identifying the father of the infant: 80% of prenatal records had the father's name, as did 76% of birth worksheets and 60% of birth certificates. Maternal age < 16 years was associated with lower rates of paternity establishment as compared with 18-19-year-old mothers (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.2, 6.7).


CONCLUSIONS
A significant proportion of birth certificates on children born to teenagers do not identify the father of the infant; however, the majority of mothers identified them, on either the prenatal record or birth worksheet. In order to develop effective programs that will affect rates of paternity establishment, we must understand barriers inherent in the process itself.
Phipps
Maureen G
MG
Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and of Community Health, Brown Medical School, Providence, Rhode Island 02905, USA. mphipps@wihri.org
Rosengard
Cynthia
C
Weitzen
Sherry
S
Boardman
Lori A
LA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001719:Birth Certificates; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005195:Family Relations; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010334:Paternity; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors