Schoolgirls 'made pregnancy pact' ... now 17 of them are expecting

The pledge came to light in Gloucester, Massachusetts, after several girl pupils kept returning to the school clinic for pregnancy tests and were distraught to find the results were negative.

The students with positive tests celebrated with high fives and immediately started making plans for baby showers.

Michael Cera and Ellen Page, who played Juno MacGuff, starred in the 2007 film. Comedies like Juno are blamed for a spike in pregnancies in some U.S. schools

About eight girls - all aged under 16 - are believed to have decided to try and conceive at the same time.

And, according to Time magazine, the girls weren’t necessarily too choosy about  the fathers. One was said to be a 34-year-old homeless man.

Parents and teachers believe hit comedies like ‘Juno’ and ‘KnockedUp’ that  glamourised young unwed mothers may have played a part in the sudden rise in  pregnancies at the New England secondary school.

In all, 17 girls are pregnant at the 1,200-student school, more than four times  the number last year.

Comedies like KnockedUp glamourised young unwed mothers, some critics say

The scandal has divided the fiercely Catholic, mostly white, fishing town  perched on scenic Cape Ann that has been hit by high unemployment in recent  years.

Angry parents resisted plans to hand out contraceptives at the school after the nurse on campus carried out more than 150 pregnancy tests.

The nurse and the school's medical director are said to have resigned in  protest following hostility from the community over proposals to prescribe contraceptives regardless of parental consent.

Family groups have blasted ‘Juno’ in particular for its controversial storyline involving a schoolgirl’s handling of an unwanted pregnancy.

The comedy won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay earlier this year and a Best Actress nomination for star Ellen Page.

Gloucester High School headmaster Joseph Sullivan said officials started looking into the spike in pregnancies last October after an unusual number of  girls filed into the clinic to see if they were expecting.

‘Some girls seemed more upset when they weren’t pregnant than when they were,’  he told Time.

‘We found out that one of the fathers is a 34-year-old homeless  guy.’

The expectant mothers and their parents refused to give interviews.

‘Families are broken,’ said school superintendent Christopher Farmer.

‘Many of our young girls are growing up directionless.’

A classmate of the girls involved in the pregnancy pact added: ‘No-one’s offered them a better option.’