Amber Portwood, Maci Bookout, Farrah Abraham and Catelynn Lowell will be back for a fourth season of "Teen Mom," MTV announced on Wednesday.
The network also announced that the third season of the popular-but-controversial reality series will premiere July 5.
The series, which was born out of MTV's earlier reality series "16 and Pregnant," chronicles the quartet's efforts to navigate the treacherous waters of young motherhood.
The show also generated headlines in late 2010, when footage of violent behavior by Portwood toward her child's father, Gary Shirley, prompted investigations by both the Anderson, Ind. police department and local child protective services. Portwood was eventually charged with three counts of domestic violence.
According to MTV, the upcoming season three will offer more drama as the young mothers "confront old wounds, struggle to further their education, face strained relationships and strive to give their children the best life possible."
Read MTV's full press release below.
MTV’S GROUNDBREAKING DOCU-SERIES “Teen Mom” RETURNS ON TUESDAY, JULY 5TH WITH AMBER, CATELYNN, FARRAH AND MACI
Teen Moms Talk about Pregnancy and Prevention on National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
New York, NY – May 4, 2011 – As part of the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, May 4th, MTV today announced that the network’s thought-provoking docu-series, “Teen Mom” will return for a third season on Tuesday, July 5th at 10pm ET/PT and has been greenlit for a fourth season. Additionally, as part of the Emmy Award-Winning “It’s Your (Sex) Life” campaign, MTV is rolling out a series of new public service announcements featuring Amber, Catelynn, Farrah and Maci talking candidly about sex, pregnancy and prevention.
Millions of viewers were along for the ups and downs each girl faced as pregnant teens on “16 and Pregnant” and the first two seasons of “Teen Mom” – now they’ll watch as the stakes grow higher and the young parents face their biggest challenges yet. This season, the series goes deeper into the girls’ lives as they confront old wounds, struggle to further their education, face strained relationships and strive to give their children the best life possible. Tensions grow higher and as always, the series gives viewers an honest, gritty look into the challenges of raising a child as young parents and life after choosing adoption. However, now these children are toddlers, and when dealing with the “terrible twos” – each day offers a new lesson.
In a new series of PSAs rolling out on-air and online today to support the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Amber, Catelynn, Farrah and Maci talk about the importance of protection and preventing teen pregnancy. Part of MTV and the Kaiser Family Foundation’s decade long “It’s Your (Sex) Life” campaign, the spots touch on what they know about contraception now versus before, what they would have done their senior year of high school if they hadn’t gotten pregnant, the importance of timing, and the reality of being a teen mother. Each of the girls also addresses these topics in a series of exclusive interviews on MTV’s ACT blog (www.ACT.MTV.com). To learn more about the realities of being a teen parent or to get expert advice on pregnancy prevention, viewers can head to www.itsyoursexlife.org. Additionally, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy is challenging teens to take an interactive quiz at www.stayteen.org that poses real-life scenarios and asks them to decide what they would do in a risky situation before they are actually in one.
According to the National Campaign, one out of every ten children in the United States is born to a teenage mother and about one quarter of all teen moms have a second child within two years, making it difficult to get an education or escape poverty. Additionally, children born to teen parents are more likely to repeat the cycle and become teen parents themselves. Despite the availability of sex education and access to contraception, the United States continues to have the highest rate of teen pregnancy and teen birth in the entire developed world.
“The fact is, 50 percent of teens still say they’ve never even thought about how a pregnancy would affect their lives, and yet 3 in 10 girls in the U.S. will get pregnant at least once by age 20,” said Marisa Nightingale, Senior Media Advisor of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. “MTV is doing their part to keep the national spotlight on this important issue by showing the reality of teen pregnancy and Parenthood in programs like ‘Teen Mom,’ and by drawing attention to how teens can protect themselves.” Nightingale added: “The good news is that teen pregnancy is 100% preventable. MTV is helping young people realize that it doesn’t have to happen to them.”
Last year “Teen Mom” was the #2 original cable series with P12-34 behind MTV’s “Jersey Shore.” The second season of “Teen Mom” averaged a 3.6 P12-34 rating, up +56% from the first season, and delivered 3.8 million total viewers each week. “Teen Mom” was Tuesday’s #1 program with P12-34 across all of cable.
“Teen Mom” is Executive Produced by Morgan J Freeman. Lauren Dolgen is Executive Producer, MTV. Kenda Greenwood is Co-Executive Producer. Jessica Zalkind is Executive for MTV. Concept by Lauren Dolgen.
Executive Producer Morgan J. Freeman (MTV’s 16 and Pregnant, Laguna Beach, Teen Mom 2) made a name for himself as the Sundance award-winning writer/director of Hurricane Streets, a film centered on the trials and tribulations of teenage life. Freeman’s latest films, Homecoming, a thriller starring Mischa Barton and Jessica Stroup (90210), and Just Like The Son (Mark Webber, Rosie Perez) were recently released on DVD.
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