DC/DOX: “baby/girls” is an Empathetic Look at Teen Pregnancy
In the mid-aughts, Teen Mom was a reality TV sensation on MTV. It was an era of reality programming that was created to allow viewers to gawk at the lives of others. To revel in their pain without any empathy or contextualization as to their realities. The life of a pregnant teenager in a rural area is going to look vastly different than that of the upper-middle-class suburban teen watching at home. Yet Teen Mom never seemed interested in these girls outside of the drama in their lives. Over a decade later, baby/girls, playing as part of the 2026 DC/DOX Film Festival, takes a wildly different approach.
Three girls are the focus of baby/girls. Olivia, Grace, and Ariana all cross paths through the Compassion House, a maternity home in Arkansas. Their website describes themselves as a “safe, supportive home for pregnant and parenting teens (ages 11–17) discovering hope for their future.” The age range listed should give you an idea about the rates of teen pregnancy in the state. One of the employees of the Compassion House says that Arkansas is usually ranked first or second in the nation for teen pregnancy. While Compassion House is a pro-life organization, an employee emphasizes that she believes in a woman’s right to choose and that the purpose of this home is to give these girls the support they need.
Courtesy of DC/DOX
baby/girls is an unflinching, honest look at the experiences of young girls that aren’t often presented in this way. It’s the polar opposite of Teen Mom. This gentle, verité approach by co-directors Jackie Jesko and Alyse Walsh feels compassionate. The two aren’t guiding the lives of these girls, they’re merely being present. It’s important that a film like this exists and shows the realities of motherhood, no matter the age. One of the girls talks toward the end of the film about how different this is from what they see on social media. Many people, regardless of age, are fooled by social media, so it’s no wonder these girls, who are looking for a source of unconditional love, are swayed by what they see online.
Courtesy of DC/DOX
The general consensus of all these girls is that they want to be a mother so they can give someone the attention, affection, and love they didn’t receive as children. It’s a heartbreaking sentiment, because anyone on the outside knows how difficult that will be for a sixteen-year-old. It’s not impossible, but it is an immensely uphill battle that can easily go wrong, even if these girls have the best of intentions. The simple reality is that childcare is expensive. Not even talking about daycare, but diapers, food, clothes, toys, and more. Without a support system, they’re on their own, and sometimes a support system can make the situation worse.
These girls take different paths after leaving Compassion House. They’re forced to reckon with the fact that being the mother they didn’t have is harder than they thought, but when the film ends there’s hope they will continue to make difficult, but ultimately better, choices for their kids. Teen pregnancy is a generational cycle, one that’s hard to break in places like the rural American south. baby/girls holds space for these girls while condemning the systems around them that contribute to the cyclical nature of teen pregnancy. This documentary is profoundly vulnerable. It’s an act of bravery to share such deeply personal moments with the rest of the world in the hope of capturing their reality to ask for change.
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