Adolescent paternity: a Challenger to be faced by Elath services

Abstract

This article presents part of the results of research carried through with adult men who had been adolescent parents. It has as objective to carry out a reflection concerning the form in which the Brazilian health services currently are organized themselves to meet the demands brought by the experience of teenage pregnancy and paternity. Field research was conducted with men 20 though 35 years of age who had experienced paternity during adolescence. To that end, the technique of life history was used for the collection of information, and the analysis was carried through using the technique of thematic analysis. The bibliographical survey carried through in the beginning made evident that adolescent paternity has not usually been object of health interventions, which is proved by the small scientific production on this theme and by the non-existence of a State normative to guide the care to the adolescent father who seeks support in the health services. The analysis evidenced that the men who participated in this research were unclear about the ways the health sector could have contributed to the experience, but they recognize that any support of this nature would have been of great value to the experience of that moment. The present reflection leads us to conclude that, paternity in the adolescence any support of this nature does not present the necessary visibility to be regarded as a concrete demand for health services, requiring intervention for the sector health.