VietNamNet Bridge – Dr. Ngo Thi Yen, head of the Family Planning Faculty at the HCM City-based Tu Du Hospital, says hundreds of minors go to her faculty for abortion counseling every month.

Last year, the hospital conducted over 1,600 abortions for women from 15 to 19 years old, including 800 cases of girls under 18 years old. The youngest was a 12-year-old girl.

In late July, the quiet space in front of the consulting room of the Family Planning Faculty at the Tu Du Hospital sat a whimpering young girl who was being scolded by her mother. With a pale face, the 10-grade schoolgirl admitted that she tied her belly with a elastic band for several months to hide her pregnant situation, but now the belly was too big so she had to tell her mother the truth.

Waiting for her daughter outside the abortion room, the mother said her naïve daughter was in a relationship with her classmate.

"I had only thought that they were close friends until I accidentally discovered her vomiting in the toilet. She needs abortion because she is so young and the new school year is coming," she said.

Shortly after Mrs. Hoa and her daughter left the abortion room, a 15-year-old pregnant woman entered. The father of the baby is the girl’s 17-year-old cousin, a Vietnamese American.

"We were together only once. After that I felt changes in my body but I thought that I was sick. Until my stomach began to grow, I knew that I was pregnant. I found it impossible to hide my mother so I told her the truth. My cousin has returned to the US," she said.

According to the latest statistics from the UN Population Fund, Vietnam is one of five countries with the highest abortion rates in the world and ranked first in Southeast Asia.

The country also has a high rate of women who have babies when they are aged 15 to 19, about 46 per 1,000 births.

HCM City is said to have the highest abortion rate in the country, especially among teenagers, which is increasing.

"We are heartbroken seeing mothers and daughters crying together or the mothers scolding their daughters at the abortion counseling room because the pregnant women are so young,” said Dr. Yen, head of the Family Planning Faculty at the HCM City-based Tu Du Hospital.

The doctors said through these cases, they can see that many parents did not care about their children as they were not aware that their daughters were pregnant for months. In addition, young girls had sexual relations with their boyfriends and lacked basic knowledge about contraceptive measures.

"Many friends of mine have boyfriends from the 8th and 9th grades. I thought that it is safe to have sex several days after my period,” a young pregnant girl said. Others believe that if they are pregnant, they can take pills for abortion.

Abortion among minors is high not only at Tu Du Hospital, one of the largest obstetric hospitals in Vietnam, but also at other hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City. According to the HCMC Center for Reproductive Health Care, there were about 2,800 cases of abortions among girls aged 15 to 19 last year.

Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Thong, director of the HCMC Center for Reproductive Health Care, said it was impossible to control behavior and that education was the key to curb abortion.

"It is necessary to improve sex education so young people can make the right decisions to avoid these unfortunate situations. This is a long-term issue," Thong said.

Le Ha