THE PREGNANCY PROJECT Takes a Compelling Look at Society & Teen Pregnancy

In 2010, high school student Gaby Rodriguez was searching for the perfect idea for her senior project. The daughter of a single mother who got pregnant with her first child in high school, and with a sister who had a baby before she turned 18, Gaby was curious about the social impact of teen pregnancy. She designed a social experiment, examining attitudes toward girls who get pregnant in high school, by faking a pregnancy of her own. The results of the experiment turned her into a media sensation, and now Lifetime brings her story to the screen in The Pregnancy Project.

Based on [easyazon-link asin=”1442446226″]the book of the same name[/easyazon-link], The Pregnancy Project chronicles Gaby’s experience as a “pregnant teen” during her senior year. The reactions from friends, family, teachers, and classmates aren’t unexpected, but they’re no less revelatory of human behavior. I was impressed with the lack of melodrama in the story; sure, the climactic final reveal veers into the emotional, but it feels earned by that point.

Alexa Vega (Spy Kids) handles the role of Gaby with ease, keeping her authentic as a star student, a girlfriend, a daughter, a sister, and a friend. It would have been easy to turn her into a self-righteous crusader on a mission to point out the injustice of stereotyping, but the movie stays true to the real person its based on and shows her own personal growth as she continues the project. Although Gaby’s thesis was the attitudes others had toward her as a pregnant teen, the emotional toll the project took on her is equally relevant and compelling.

Engaging, interesting, and featuring solid performances from Vega and Judy Reyes (Scrubs), The Pregnancy Project has more in common with Lifetime’s new vision of quality viewing for women than the “woman in peril” movies that filled their lineup in the past. Directed by Norman Buckley, The Pregnancy Project succeeds in telling Gaby Rodriguez’s story with a degree of authenticity that adds to the power of her experience. I hope to see more of this level of filmmaking from the network in 2012.

The Pregnancy Project premieres Saturday, January 28 at 8/7c on Lifetime.