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Jeff Brady reports

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DALLAS - As Texans remains the state with the nation's highest teen pregnancy rate, more of those young moms are opting to keep their babies rather than give them up for adoption.

Counselors and parents say the trend has many roots, and also has led to the dwindling number of babies available for adopt.

Megan Weaver is due to give birth next week and chose to give her baby to adoptive parents. In fact, Weaver said she helped select the parents for her soon-to-be-born child.

"I picked out [and] met them," she said.

However, being a teen, she's not the norm. Fewer unwed, pregnant youths are considering adoption. Nationwide, including in North Texas, the option is at its lowest rate ever with fewer than two percent choosing to the adoption route.

"I think teen pregnancy has been de-stigmatized," said Jennifer Lanter, with the Gladney Center. "It's just not a big deal to be pregnant in school now."

Maria Juarez, a high school senior, got pregnant this summer.

No, not really," she said when asked if she was embarrassed to attend school pregnant.

The influence of single, celebrity teen moms may be one cause. Some counselors have also pointed to a growing Hispanic community, where adoption is rarely common.

"In most Mexican-American families, it's just not something they do," Juarez said.

Juarez said she plans to stay in class at Pinkston High. She's due in March and will graduate in May. But she isn't alone. Almost 80 of her classmates are pregnant, too.

"It's just like wow, everybody's pregnant, everybody can keep it," Weaver said. "But they just don't have the knowledge of adoption."

And at Gladney, that lack of knowledge has created other problems as more families experiencing infertility seek a baby to adopt.

E-mail jbrady@wfaa.com