Unwed Pregnancy Stigma: How Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt’s Unwed Pregnancy Destigmatize Non-Marital Fertility

Back into the time when having a child out of wedlock in Hollywood was a career-ending scandal, celebrities became a part of the increasing trend of women who were hastily subjected to marriages and abortions. But in 2006, the image of unwed pregnancies drastically changed - thanks to one of Hollywood's power couple, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

It is an undeniable fact that the society had a strict and standardized concept when it comes to marriage and procreation, where women were normally banned to get pregnant before marriage. This ideology exists 50 years ago or in the '70s and '80s in which women who got pregnant out of wedlock were often scorned and stigmatized.

As time went by, the ideologies on the institution of marriage and procreation transformed. As a matter of fact, studies showed that the idea of marrying to procreate has long been considered quaint and obsolete.

In 2009, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed 41 percent of births in America were out of wedlock. The stats also rang true in Hollywood, where several celebrities like Halle Berry, Selma Blair, Kourtney Kardashian, Natalie Portman and many others proudly proclaimed their statuses as unwed moms.

It wasn't until Angeline Jolie, however, who changed the way the society viewed unwed pregnancy (aka non-marital fertility in technical terms). According to New York's Buffalo State University sociology assistant professor and study researcher Hanna Grol-Prokopczyk, Jolie and Brad Pitt's 2006 pregnancy revelation changed the way People magazine covers pregnancy announcements without either an engagement or marriage.

Based on Grol-Prokopczyk's study presented at the American Sociological Association's annual meeting in Seattle a month ago, People's coverage on Brangelina's pregnancy made the concept of unwed pregnancy more acceptable even without the promise of marriage. Grol-Prokopczyk even pointed out that Brangelina's baby bump coverage contributed to the destigmatization of non-marital fertility.

Even though pop culture used to slam unwed but expectant couples, many celebrities were getting pregnant out of wedlock. Thanks to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, the dynamic in unwed pregnancy was significantly altered and marriage was no longer assumed as the next step for unwed, expectant couples, Live Science noted.

Aside from Brangelina, a few of Hollywood's power couples including ex-couple Tom Cruise and Katie Homes had also challenged the somewhat obsolete norm when it comes to marriage and procreation. However, it was the Pitts who really made a turning point, especially when they decided to get married eight years after the birth of the couple's first biological child in 2014.

Grol-Prokopczyk's findings also echoed the observation of Ohio's Drake University law, politics and society professor and "Pregnant with the Stars: Watching and Wanting the Celebrity Baby Bump" author Renée Cramer, who said that People's coverage of unwed celebrity pregnancies had normalized the perceptions on often stigmatized behaviors. As per Stanford University Press, Cramer also stressed how women are categorized and defined by their pregnancies.

In addition, People has also changed its coverage on pregnant gay celebrity couples. Meanwhile, Grol-Prokopczyk's findings have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

So, what are your thoughts on the burgeoning cases of unwed pregnancies? Sound off below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.