[Adolescent fatherhood: social silence and scientific emptiness].

This study aimed at discussing adolescent fatherhood both as a social issue and scientific research object. A review of the Brazilian and Latin America scientific literature published between 1994 and 2004 was carried out by searching ADOLEC (Health in Adolescence) and LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences data bases. Few studies were found, evidencing social silence on this subject, as it is generally expected that teenagers do not experience fatherhood. This demonstrates the need to create new policies and to develop scientific studies on adolescent fatherhood.