A Massachusetts fishing town made headlines last week after Time magazine reported that local high school girls had made a pact to get pregnant. But now, Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk is questioning the theory, which was suggested by Gloucester High School Principal Joseph Sullivan. “Any planned blood-oath bond to become pregnant,” she said, “there is absolutely no evidence of.” Instead, she says the town’s spike in high school pregnancies is in keeping with similar spikes in other cities.

Kirk cited privacy concerns in refusing to answer many questions about the 17 girls who became pregnant this school year – more than quadruple the number who generally become pregnant at the school.

Kirk said she and Superintendent Christopher Farmer have been in touch with Sullivan, and that he was “foggy in his memory” about how he came to believe there was a pact.

“When pressed, his memory failed,” the mayor said.

Farmer, however, has pointed out that the Time article did not distinguish between “a pact to become pregnant or a pact because we are pregnant,” and said there was a “distinct possibility” that the pregnant girls decided to “come together for mutual support.”