About us

Established in 2013, NoTeenShame.org is committed to improving policies and eliminating the stigma that hinders young parents' access to quality healthcare, education, and community support. Sparked in response to harmful public health and teen pregnancy prevention campaigns, NoTeenShame’s founders led an international movement to destigmatize teen pregnancy, address generational impact of stigma on young families and our children, and elevate young mothers as valuable and industrious members of society. 

As young mothers, our voices have often been silenced when it comes to decisions that affect our families' futures. This even extends to our contributions within various movements across the last decade. In the beginning, we recognized the need for a vocal, public, and visible movement to not only secure our place at the decision-making table but to open up seats for young parents nationwide – our mission remains centered on elevating the voices of young parents and the children of young parents today.

As a core to our mission, we believe, honor, and uphold the frameworks of reproductive justice. 

Recent National Milestones 

In 2022, our co-founder Natasha Vianna co-authored Stigma as a Source of Stress for Adolescent Mothers and Their Babies with the Group for the Advancement on Psychiatry. Young mothers have been a focus of attention and concern for many years. The literature on the health of young parents, however, is largely silent about the impact of stigma on them and their children. Stigma is a pervasive cultural attitude, which leads us to overlook potentially good outcomes, contributes to poor outcomes for these mothers and babies, and is a cause of stress leading to well-known adverse effects on health and development for both mothers and babies. This article reviews manifestations of social stigma in our communities, in the offices of professionals, and in policies that embed bias in our social systems. We review findings related to interventions associated with better outcomes and offer suggestions for more humane care and policies.

In 2019, in response to NoTeenShame’s advocacy and leadership, Congress and organizations nationwide rebranded May as Sex Ed for All Month. In the early 1990s, in connection with President Bill Clinton’s Welfare Reform Act and his decision to declare teen pregnancy a public health issue, teen pregnancy prevention month became a national campaign. While the month was established to educate teens about sexual health, the last three decades included harmful campaigns rooted in sexism, racism, and classism that failed to provide consistent, accurate, comprehensive sexual education and perpetuated harmful stereotypes about young parents. Beginning in 2013, NoTeenShame developed and launched strategic campaigns to humanize young families, educate policymakers and decision-makers on the harmful effects of stigma, and radically shift perception of young families.

 

Our story

In 2013, seven young mothers from across the United States united to improve conditions for young parents and their families. Tired of being subjected to harmful policies and stigmatizing messages, we decided to challenge the false narrative that young parents are incapable, irresponsible, and undeserving of dignity and respect – a story deeply rooted in racist, sexist, and classist ideologies. We understand that politicians, the media, educators, and healthcare professionals have inadvertently perpetuated stereotypes that harm our families. Committed to advocating for young parents' rights, addressing injustices facing today's youth, and promoting reproductive justice, we strive to earn the dignity and respect we deserve.

Our movement began with the #noteenshame hashtag on Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram, providing young parents the platform to share their experiences and positive images of their families without fear of judgment or shame. As young mothers, we aimed to create a space for discussing young parenthood, our multifaceted identities, and our families without being judged, stereotyped, or shamed for our sexual and reproductive choices. Within days, thousands of young parents nationwide joined our campaign, proudly sharing their stories and helping to reshape the biased perception of young parenthood. Together, we addressed the sexist, racist, and classist foundations of teen pregnancy prevention, affecting local and national policy changes. Now, the outdated narrative of young parenthood has been replaced with inclusive, positive, and justice-based language.

 

Learn more

Read and share the research by our co-founders 

  • Stigma as a Source of Stress for Adolescent Mothers and Their Babies, 2022

    Adolescent pregnancy and the babies of teen mothers have been a focus of attention and concern for many years. The literature on the health of pregnant and parenting teens, however, is largely silent about the impact of stigma on them and their children. Stigma is a pervasive cultural attitude, which leads us to overlook potentially good outcomes for this vulnerable population and contributes to poor outcomes for these mothers and babies. Stigma is a cause of stress leading to well-known adverse effects on health and development for both mothers and babies. Co-authored by one of our co-founders, this article reviews manifestations of social stigma in our communities, in the offices of professionals, and in policies that embed bias in our social systems. We review findings related to interventions associated with better outcomes and offer suggestions for more humane care and policies.  

  • Creating a Statewide Absence Policy for Expecting and Parenting Students: A Case Study of Community-Based Policy Work, 2017

    Community-based coalitions can be a powerful force for social change. This article describes how a group of organizations and individuals combined their knowledge and strengths to succeed in crafting an educational policy that was signed into state law. The Young Parent Working Group is a multidisciplinary coalition that advocates for the educational attainment of expecting and parenting students. This case-study highlights the progression of the initial policy development, the evolution of the group, successful interpersonal processes, legislation, messaging, lobbying for bi-partisan support, and finally the transition to policy implementation and next steps.

  • A Multi-Generational Approach to Addressing the Educational Needs of Expectant and Parenting Youth, 2015 

    In this webinar, Marylouise Kuti presents a school-based model focusing on needs of adolescent parents and their children. The model incorporates case management, home visitation, and access to child development centers.

Read Embodying the Problem by Jenna Vinson 

  • Embodying the Problem explores how young mothers resist this narrative. Analyzing fifty narratives written by young mothers, the recent #NoTeenShame social media campaign, and her interviews with thirty-three young women, Vinson argues that while the stigmatization of teenage pregnancy and motherhood does dehumanize young pregnant and mothering women, it is at the same time a means for these women to secure an audience for their own messages.  

Explore existing policies 

Join the IMPACT National Alliance

The IMPACT National Alliance is consciously centered on young mothers, birth givers, and their families. Their goal is to come together and build a collective power of young mamas who share the same passion. The Alliance will focus on actively advocating for change, especially when it comes to broken systems and policies that affect young families and their communities. Alliance members will have access to a virtual space to connect with others, options to participate in training, and access to current information regarding policies impacting young families. To register for the Alliance please click here. 

Founders

Natasha Vianna, California

Consuela Greene, Massachusetts 

Gloria Malone, New York 

Marylouise Kuti, New Mexico,

Lisette Engel, Maryland 

Jasmin Colon, Florida

Christina Martinez, California 

Our supporters

Advocates for Youth, National Women's Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union, United Nations of the United States, National Crittenton Foundation, Healthy Teen Network, California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, Forward Together, COLOR, Young Women United, URGE, SIECUS, and more.