Sipokazi Fokazi

FROM a young age Amanda Steyn of Bonteheuwel had her life figured out.

Not only did she want to study and pursue her career, but she was adamant she would not have children before the age of 30.

“Having children was never something that appealed to me. I felt if were to have any it would be after I’d established my career and certainly after marriage. I just wanted to enjoy my freedom,” she recalls.

But by age 26, Steyn found herself with mixed emotions. While she had managed to complete her studies and get permanent employment after university, she was a mother – following an unplanned pregnancy.

She admits she was inconsistent with taking the contraceptive pill, but suspects a course of antibiotics may have cancelled out the pill, as her doctor suggested after her conception.

“I didn’t want to have children, at least not before 30, so I had a difficult pregnancy. I hated it so much that I don’t have any pictures of myself pregnant. I was angry and disappointed in myself for not being more careful. Thankfully I got over that anger the minute I saw my baby girl. Only then did I accept the reality of my new life,” she says. Steyn’s story is not unique. She is one of many young South African women who had unplanned pregnancies – a phenomenon considered by researchers as “socially disruptive” and that impacts “negatively not only on education, but on future career prospects”.

A new study, which surveyed female students in several South African technical and vocational education training colleges about unplanned pregnancies, has found