Family Forum / Parenting / Mothers / August 2008

A girl has become Britain's youngest mother after becoming pregnant at
11.

The girl conceived aged 11 when she lost her virginity to a boy of 15
on a drunken night out with friends.

The 15-year-old has since been charged with rape by police, and is due
to appear again at Edinburgh sheriff court on July 10.

(Pro-Love Girl's comment: Remember that the Police call it rape even
when it is consensual, because the people who made the law believed
that all girls under 16 were incapable of giving informed consent.)

Her 34-year-old mother, who gave birth to her youngest child eight
months ago, said she was proud of her daughter.

She will be 12 years and 8 months when she has the child next month.
Jenny Teague, Britain's youngest mother until now, was a month older
when she gave birth in 1997.

The youngster, who lives near Edinburgh, says looking after her
younger brothers has prepared her for motherhood.

But the girl admits she "panics and cries" when babies are unwell, and
does not feel able to bathe them.

(Pro-Love Girl's comment: The fact that she feels awed by the
responsibility of caring for a baby shows that she is an excellent
mother. But (a) she will get used to it, with help from her mother,
and (b) this time the baby is her own, and the love she will feel will
help her through any difficulties.)

The 12-year-old mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had
unprotected sex with the teenage boy, who also cannot be identified,
while drunk last August.

'Excited'

She told the Sun: "I didn't think I'd get pregnant because it was my
first time. But I'm really excited and looking forward to being a mum.

"I can't wait to take the baby swimming and out for walks in the pram.
I think I'll be able to cope as I've had lots of practice looking
after my brothers.

"I know how to feed a baby its bottle and I can change nappies. But I
cry if they're sick, and I don't like giving them a bath because I'm a
bit frightened. It's good to know I'll have my mum here to help me if
I need her."

Concerned she might be pregnant, the girl visited a GP three times but
tests proved negative. She learned the truth after buying a home-
testing kit from a supermarket.

After the device displayed two blue lines, indicating she was
pregnant, asked a female relative to break the news to her mother. The
girl, who has been suspended from her first year of secondary school
for fighting, said: "I was paranoid about what my mum was going to say
and just frightened about being pregnant too.

"I knew straight away that I couldn't have an abortion because that's
something I don't believe in. I was upset and so was my mum,
especially as she'd just had my wee brother. We had a big argument and
I ended up locking myself in my room, and ran away to a friend's
place.

"It was hard, but it's brought me and my mum closer, which is good. I
knew my mum would stand by me no matter what, but I told her straight
away I was going to keep the baby. The social worker suggested I got
rid of it but I'd never do that."

(Pro-Love Girl's comment: "Soon this girl will be able to show the
baby to that horrible social worker and say "Here is the beautiful
baby you wanted me to kill!")

Smoking at nine

The girl, who has shoulder-length dark hair, began smoking at nine and
started drinking tonic wine and vodka cocktails at ten. She claimed
her cigarette habit was not harming the health of her unborn child.

She said: "I can give up smoking at any time, but I don't find it
affects my pregnancy."

(Pro-Love Girl's comment: If the girl meets anyone with responsibility
in her environment, they will tell her that smoking *does* harm the
baby's health, as well as her own.)

The girl, whose parents split up several years ago, said she would
like a baby boy - and may call him Leo.

She is currently being educated at a local community centre but knows
she must return to school.

She told the Sun: "My mum has said she will look after the baby so I
can go to school. I don't know what I want to do with my life when I
leave. I used to want to be a nursery nurse, but now I'm not so sure."

'Proud of my daughter'

Her mum said: "I'm not ashamed of my daughter at all - in fact, I'm
proud of her for keeping the baby. I know she's worried what other
people will say but she can walk out there with her head held high. At
first I wasn't too happy about becoming a grandmother. But now I'm
used to the idea. I'm really looking forward to having another baby in
the house."

The Scottish Conservatives has called for society and families to
unite to change attitudes towards sex following the news.

(Pro-Love Girl's comment: I agree that society should change it's
attitude towards sex. It should become much more tolerant and
supportive towards sex and young mothers!)