Amy Juergens

Amy Juergens is a fictional character from the ABC Family original series The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She has been portrayed by Shailene Woodley since July 1, 2008. Amy is the central figure in the series.

Character
Amy Juergens is the teenage daughter of George and Anne Juergens, the older sister of Ashley Juergens and Robert Scott "Robbie" Juergens, and the mother of John Juergens. She is in the 10th grade at Ulysses S. Grant High School where she plays the French horn in the school marching band. The summer before her freshman year, Amy attended band camp where she had a one night stand with band mate Ricky Underwood. In the show's premiere episode, Amy discovers she has become pregnant from this encounter. Actress Shailene Woodley describes Amy as "a go-getter. She's excited for life, she wants to go to Juilliard, she has all these amazing goals. Then she finds out she's pregnant, and her world is altered, and her sense of optimism turns to pessimism". Upon returning to school, Amy begins a relationship with Ben Boykewich, a highly supportive classmate with whom she falls in love. She and Ben break up in season 2. Amy and Ben get back together in the beginning of season 3 after Ben tells Amy he loves her.

Storyline
Amy struggles to balance a teenage life with pregnancy and to find a way to provide the best possible life for her child once he is born. After she was unable to follow through with an abortion, Amy planned to move in with her grandmother and attend school while "Mimsy" took care of the child. When it was discovered that Mimsy had Alzheimer's disease, Amy hoped that her mother would take care of the baby, but Anne refused. Amy then attempted to marry Ben and raise the child together, but the couple's parents intervened.

Season 1
After the mishap with Ricky at bandcamp,, Amy and Ben's relationship became strained after Amy refused to consider allowing Ben at doctor's appointments, birthing classes, or the baby's birth. Although Amy originally wanted Ben to be involved with the baby, she becomes angry and frustrated with Ben's attempts to control her and Ricky's decisions about raising the child together, causing Ben to tell her he needed space. With encouragement from her mother, Amy agrees to consider adoption so that she can pursue a relationship with Ben without worrying about creating a family for her child. Amy learns she will have a boy and agrees to give her son to family friends Donovan and Leon, a gay couple, but the adoption is sabotaged by Ricky because he didn't want his son to be given away. Finally, with encouragement from her friends and family Amy decides to keep her son in episode "Maybe Baby". She never wants to have sex again after childbirth. In "And Unto Us, A Child Is Born," Amy gives birth to her son whom Ashley names John Juergens.

Season 2
In the second season, Amy seems to be a lot more stressed out and over protective of John. She doesn't want anyone to take care of him but herself. She wanted to go to Italy with Ben for the summer, but she found she needs to go to summer school. Amy thinks that she doesn't need to listen to her father anymore because "they aren't a real family anymore" since her parents aren't married. She begins to defy her father, but eventually thanks him for standing by her for her entire life. In the episode, "Cramped," Ashley is given the revamped garage so Ashley and Amy won't have to share a room, and Amy is jealous because she wants the larger room. In her opinion she deserves it because she has a baby. When it is discovered later in the episode that Ricky took Ashley shopping for her new room, Amy is upset and angry because she is afraid that Ricky will get Ashley pregnant. She told Ricky that she is so mad all the time because it wasn't just Ricky's fault that she got pregnant at such a young age, it was hers as well. Ricky says that he thinks she is a good mother, but she doesn't enjoy John enough. She says that she is too tired to enjoy him, and Ricky says that he will take him more. Amy decides that she wants to start over with her son, after a talk with Ashley. Anne and Amy get away from their lives for a few days and just enjoy relaxing with their children. Anne and Amy shop late at night, and Amy meets a boy named, Jimmy. He gives her his number and tells her to call him if she wants. Anne decides to give Amy the car that David offered her. While away, Amy gets her license. Ricky tells her that she can't just take off with their son. Amy says that it's time that she realizes that even though they aren't a couple, She, Ricky and John are a family. Amy starts to develop a friendship with Adrian. When going out on a date with Jimmy, she allows Ricky to keep John overnight for the first time. She also agrees to having Adrian over as well as long as Ricky and Adrian do not have sex together while John is with Ricky. Amy took a condom that she got from Ashley on her date with Jimmy. She said that she wasn't thinking about sleeping with Jimmy, but she just wanted to feel normal for the night. Jimmy reveals that he is a virgin and is saving himself for the girl worth saving himself for. At the end of the date, Amy forgets her purse in Jimmy's truck and he offers to get it. When he opens the door, the contents spill out onto the driveway. Jimmy finds the condom and gives Amy's purse to Ashley's date and asks him to return it to her. Jimmy doesn't call Amy and Madison and Lauren make her think that it's because she's a bad kisser. One day Amy is in the band-room and Ricky comes in and he agrees to kiss her for "practice." Ashley sees them and tells her father. Ben comes over to the house and Amy tells him that she only kissed Ricky, and Ben didn't know anything. He goes and sits in his car and Adrian comes over, angry, because she believed that Amy and Ricky slept together. So in Amy's driveway, Adrian sleeps with Ben. Ricky then finds out, and leaves town, and finds his biological mother. When Ricky returns, he decides that he wants more responsibility with John so he goes to a mediator and gets the right to every weekend with John. However this quickly causes problems when John's first birthday marks the date that Ricky's weekends with John begin. So Ricky and Amy decide that Amy will come sleep at Ricky's apartment for the night so they can spend John's first birthday as a family. Ben leaves a voice mail message for Amy and tells her that he loves her and that he will always be there for her. She realizes that she is happy at the possibility of having Ben back in her life, but does not know that at Ben's father's wedding to Betty, Adrian tells Ben that she suspects that she might be pregnant.

Season 3
Ben, encouraged by Ricky, goes to Amy's house and they reconcile. But she is confused by Ben's subsequent odd behavior, as he is on a see-saw of emotions -- first thinking that Adrian isn't pregnant, and then discovering that she has not told him the truth and that she is. Meanwhile, the guidance counselor tells Amy that she submitted Amy's name for a prestigious music school in New York City that could help open the door to Juilliard down the road. and that Amy's been accepted, but must leave immediately, before the end of the school year. Amy is excited, but initially turns it down, afraid to leave John. Ashley, knowing about Adrian's pregnancy, encourages Amy to go, and with everyone else's encouragement, she goes to New York. At first, there is a rumor in school that Amy is pregnant again and that is why she left school early, but the rumor quickly fizzles out as people hear about Adrian's pregnancy. While in New York, Amy's buddy (Bristol Palin) stops by to pick her up on the way to class. At home, everyone is avoiding Amy's calls, not wanting to tell her about Adrian's pregnancy and Ben's involvement. At Ben's father's insistence, Ben flies to New York to tell Amy in person what has happened, before she can hear the gossip from anyone else. He plans his speech, but when he sees Amy, he blurts out that Adrian is pregnant and that he is the father. Amy is distraught, and, crying, jumps into a cab, telling Ben that he will never see her again. Amy refuses to speak with anyone who knew that Adrian was pregnant with Ben's baby and only speaks with John. Amy calls Adrian and offers to be friends with her because she says one of the hardest things about being a teen mom is losing all your friends, Adrian accepts the offer. Ashley calls Amy and leaves her a message telling her she was sorry that she kissed Ricky. Amy calls Ricky and yells at him and later calls Ashley telling her that she understands about Ashley and Ricky kissing and believed that it would happen eventually, just not thinking it would happen this soon. Amy also tells Ashley that she is giving up the French Horn for a new dream because she "is good, just not good enough to get into Juilliard." Ricky travels to New York City to see Amy so they can talk, meanwhile ben is happy that Amy agreed to meet with him when she returns from New York. Ben thinks of marrying Adrian, like her father said to get back at Amy but what he does not know is that Ricky and Amy kissed.

Pregnancy With John
Amy discovers that she is pregnant with her first child in the first couple of weeks of High School. She tells her best friends, Madison and Lauren first. She goes to the doctor to confirm it, after Lauren advises her to do so. She tells her mother about 6 weeks after she discovers her pregnancy. She briefly decides to drop out of school to attend school for teenage mothers, but returns to her normal school after peers at school support her. Her mother, Anne encourages her to consider adoption so she can lead a normal high school life, without having to worry about creating a family for her child. When Ricky's father comes to town, Amy discovers that she is having a son. Near the end of the first season, Amy, with the support of her peers, decides to keep her son. She is offered a job at the church helping to care for the children. This is where John stays while she is at school.