Jennie Garth Recalls Awkward Clinic Visit As A Teen

Jennie Garth just got candid about one of the most awkward and memorable moments of her adolescent life. The actress revealed on the August 26 episode of her podcast, I Choose Me, that she was once mistakenly told she was expecting while at a family clinic with her mother by her side. The actress told the story to her 18-year-old daughter, Fiona, explaining that this appointment was nothing like the one she had described.

Instead, Garth and her mom, Carolyn, had come to find birth control. Her mother didn't know Jennie was sexually active at the time, so the visit was explained as being to regulate her periods. "I had a boyfriend, and I just wanted to be safe," Garth opened up. "I didn't want to have a baby without being ready for it." She tested her urine to initiate the process, but she would have no idea that the results would take an embarrassing twist.

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However, when the clinician returned with the results, a surprise twist emerged. "We're sitting in this clinician's office, and they come in the room," she said. My mom and I are doing the nervous laugh thing, waiting for what she's going to say, and she says, 'Well, you're pregnant.' I was like, 'What?' And suddenly the cat was out of the bag." The star said the moment was incredibly awkward, as not only was the news untrue, but it also revealed private information about her life to her mom in the most unexpected way. 

And while the false pregnancy scare was quickly resolved, it was an early pivotal moment in her teenage life, one that taught her how crucial honesty is and how capricious medical appointments can be. In sharing the story so many decades after the fact, Garth demonstrates a willingness to confront her own openness and connect with younger generations regarding what growing up and relationships are really like, as well as how to approach difficult conversations. "It was funny, it was relatable to my daughter Fiona, and to people. A seemingly doctor's visit followed by a moment that Jennie Garth wasn't sure she'd ever live down, that she, in fact, relishes now, but felt the exact opposite at the time.