RESUMO
PIP: Sexuality, contraception, and pregnancy are inseparable, yet they are a taboo subject both for the whole country and for adolescents. The ever-earlier awakening of sexuality requires educational mechanisms that assign fundamental importance to the implementation of social, psychological, and cultural protection strategies. The resolution of pregnancy is dependent on income just as maternity is secondary to financial independence. The majority of rich adolescents get an abortion, while poor adolescents carry to term their undesired pregnancies. Adolescence is a phase of confusion with peculiar psychosocial and cultural aspects. In the low-income population the start of formal education is precarious and delayed, an important factor in the discrepancies between well-to-do and poor social classes. Pregnancy and abortion rates vary according to economic conditions, however, their resolution clearly shows ethical, religious, and moral subjectivity. The media, rural exodus, increasing urbanization, and the economic crisis make maternity a less dominant aspect of women's lives. Young people do not obtain the necessary information for safeguarding their fertility because of the lack of specialized services, thus they are uncertain about what the health care system can provide. Much opportunity is lost because professionals are too busy or too disinterested to listen to these alienated youngsters. Preconceived notions, disinformation, and uncertainty coupled with emotional obstacles and noncooperation of the partner result in the use of contraceptives becoming a complex and difficult problem to resolve. It is necessary to alter our perceptions of adolescent sexual development. In Brazil, where more than half of the population is young, it is indispensable to devise collective programs not restricted to conventional medical practices to reach all adolescents.^ieng