Study: 1 in 200 mothers reports a 'virgin' birth

By Emily Alpert Reyes

The Los Angeles Times

Roughly one out of every 200 American women claim to have become pregnant as virgins, according to a recently published study. But scholars think that far from Bethlehem, something other than a miracle is afoot.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill tracked how women answered questions on the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. They found that a small fraction of women – 0.5% – reported getting pregnant before they started having sex.

Women with “virgin pregnancy” were twice as likely as other pregnant women to have signed a chastity pledge, with more than 30% reporting they had done so. Their parents, in turn, were more likely to say they had trouble discussing sex or birth control with their children, the survey showed.

Did the women really think they became pregnant as virgins? It isn’t clear. Women were asked when they started having sex and when they got pregnant – and might have misremembered one date or the other, said UNC-Chapel Hill professor Amy H. Herring, one of the authors of the study.

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