When Geraldine Harris found out she was pregnant last year, the homeless teen was going from the couch of one friend to the couch of another. She knew that was no way for her child to live.

As she began to feel her young son Martell, now 10 months old, develop inside her, she thought first about having an abortion. Then she thought about giving up her child for adoption. Harris, 19, knew she didn't have the heart to do either.

"I had nowhere to live, so he had nowhere to live," she said. "It's hard--it was hard just taking care of me. I struggle a lot."

It has been 20 years since researchers conducted a detailed study of homeless teens in Illinois. The results of a new study, to be released Tuesday, found that the typical homeless teen bears a striking resemblance to Harris: Most are female, became homeless because of a family conflict and started their own family while still on the streets.

The study, to be unveiled at the Statewide Youth Homelessness Conference at the University of Illinois at Chicago, suggests that the number of homeless teens has grown steadily. The survey estimated there were nearly 25,000 homeless youths ages 12 to 21 in 2004, up nearly 4,000 from 1985, when the last survey was conducted.

Researchers came up with the number by asking about 215 agencies that work with homeless people how many teens they helped in 2004.

They interviewed 169 homeless teens who were being served at those shelters and agencies on April 26. About two-thirds were female.

What surprised researchers most was that the percentage of girls who said they had been pregnant more than doubled, from 33 percent to 68 percent, in 20 years.

The study also found that about half of the girls had one or more child; of those who were mothers, 85 percent said they were living with their child.

Officials from the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless conducted the survey along with the Illinois Department of Human Services and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"The findings track the trend in the general homeless population, that families with children are the largest growing segment of the population," said Julie Dworkin, policy director for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.

"If you have a child and have limited resources, you are much more likely to be homeless than someone who is on their own." Harris became homeless at 16 after her mother died and other family living arrangements didn't work out.

After living in shelters and with friends for several years, Harris found a low-income apartment in Englewood last summer. While at the shelters, she was able to get training and certification to become a certified nursing assistant, a part-time job that pays about $600 a month. She also receives about $200 a month in food stamps. She said the most difficult thing is finding day care for her son.

"It slows me down. As far as going to school--I think about how far I could have gone. Other than that, I have no regrets," she said.

"Teens on the street," Chicago Tribune, 12/13/05