Dad at 13, Mom at 15

A 13 year old boy, Alfie, and a 15 year old girl, Chantelle, have just had a baby in Britain. The Sun reports that she became pregnant when they had sex for the first time and that they hid her pregnancy until her mom noticed the weight gain.
The story does not say what if any sex education that these children have had, but it is obvious that they did not realize they could get pregnant the first time and Alfie’s dad says that he’s now going to have the birds and the bees conversation so that this doesn’t happen again.
What is most shocking is that he is not the youngest father in Britain. A 12 year old boy impregnated a 15 year old girl in 1998 and they split 6 months later.
As disturbing as this story is about children giving birth to children, I noticed too that the emphasis of the story is about the father and not the mother. It’s just as shocking to me that she’s 15 as it is that he’s 13, but I understand that the lead that grabs attention is the lower number. But, her story and opinion are barely present in the story. The entire thing is about how he is reacting to this.

Disclaimer: This post was written by a Feministing Community user and does not necessarily reflect the views of any Feministing columnist, editor, or executive director.

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