In Bangladesh, early marriage and childbearing has led to an adolescent fertility rate that is among the
highest in the world. The average age of marriage for girls is 14-15 years in the country although the
legal age of marriage is 18 years [1]. There is still very strong social and family pressure on girls to
marry at an early age and to prove their fertility soon after marriage. In addition to early marriage, lack
of accessible family planning and reproductive health services also contributes to early childbearing.
The Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2014 showed that 1 in 5 births in girls aged
less than 20 years were unintended, with more than 98% of the unintended births being mistimed
(wanted later) and 0.2% being unwanted [1]. Estimates from the BDHS 2014 further showed that 15.2%
of currently married girls aged between 15-19 years in the urban areas of the country had an unmet
need for family planning (FP), with 14.7% having unmet need for spacing births while 0.5% had unmet
need for limiting births. In addition, 33.9% of currently married girls of this age group had ever heard of
menstrual regulation (MR), although 3.2% had used MR services [1]. Collectively, these factors
contribute to the high rate of unintended pregnancy among married adolescent girls.