Republican presidential campaign, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin shocked some supporters yesterday by announcing that her 17-year-old daughter Bristol is five months pregnant.
According to insiders, Palin, the 44-year-old Alaskan governor and mom of five children released her statement to the media yesterday to combat an Internet rumor that Bristol may have mothered Palin’s youngest son, Trig, who was born 4 months ago with Down Syndrome. Apparently, this particular rumor has been circulating for a while, though ever since John McCain selected Palin to be his vice president late last week, the buzz on Bristol has reached epic proportions.
Personally, I don’t buy that Palin was influenced by a bunch of ill-informed Internet bloggers in issuing her statement. (What’s more, if it weren’t for a hurricane named Gustav, I have a feeling Palin’s announcement would have gotten even more coverage than it did.) For the record, Down syndrome is a chromosomal abnormality characterized by the presence of an extra copy of genetic material on the 21st chromosome. Any one who knows anything about the condition (or who bothers to research it) knows that maternal age is a huge factor in influencing whether or not a child is conceived with Down Syndrome. Hence, the use of standard prenatal tests to screen for the condition.
Studies show that in pregnant women younger than 24, the probability of conceiving a child with Down Syndrome is one in 1562; at age 35 to 39 the probability is one in 214, and above age 45 the probability is one in 19. Research has also found that paternal age (especially men age 40 and older) also increases the risk of Down Syndrome.
Given the ages of Palin and her teen daughter (while not out of the realm of possibility) it would be extremely unlikely that Bristol would have conceived a child with Down Syndrome. Yet the rumors persisted.
The statement Palin and her husband released to the media yesterday regarding Bristol’s pregnancy didn’t address the Internet rumor; rather it focused on remaining committed to a daughter who faces a tough few years ahead:
“Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.”
And so it begins. The talking heads on every cable network comparing Bristol to teen mom Jamie Lynn Spears and the many articles taking jabs at the Palin’s parenting skills (or lack thereof in this case—the latest being that if Sarah Palin had put her family before her intense desire to succeed in her career her daughter probably wouldn’t have turned to a teen boy for love and thus wouldn’t be pregnant). By the way, Palin’s political rival, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said being a son of a teenage mother himself he refuses to make Bristol’s situation an issue and implored the media to leave the pregnant teen alone.
As for the father of Bristol’s unborn child, 18-year-old Levi Johnston is making headlines himself. In Palin’s statement yesterday she mentioned that Bristol and Levi intend to marry, only now some are saying that may be wishful thinking on the governor’s part.
According to TMZ.com, Johnston is not exactly prime marriage material. He states so himself on his MySpace page, which is laced with profanities and clearly suggests that he is more interested in playing hockey than being a husband and father. “I don’t want kids,” Johnston writes on his MySpace page. Of course, what teenage boy really wants to deal with the ramifications of having premarital sex?
Which brings us back to Sarah Palin. Regardless of your political affiliation you have got to wonder how this woman is keeping it all together right now. Not only is she competing for the job of second in command on the worldwide stage, but she’s also breastfeeding an infant with special needs, dealing with criticism that she married a “wussy,” coping with the fact that her teen daughter is about to be a mother, and having to confront those who say her parenting skills “stink.” Talk about a full plate.
What are your thoughts on Sarah Palin? Is she supermom or just someone who has bitten off more than she can chew?
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