British boy becomes father at 13

[mr friendly guy]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009 ... 491619.htm

British boy becomes father at 13

Posted Sat Feb 14, 2009 1:35pm AEDT

A 13-year-old British schoolboy has fathered a child with his 15-year-old girlfriend, triggering debate about the country's high level of teenage pregnancies.

Alfie Patten, whose voice has not yet broken, admitted he had not thought about how he and girlfriend Chantelle Steadman would support baby daughter Maisie Roxanne, who was born Monday, but vowed to be a good father.

"I didn't think about how we would afford it. I don't really get pocket money. My dad sometimes gives me 10 pounds ($21)," the 1.22-metre tall teenager from Eastbourne, south England, told the Sun newspaper.

"When my mum found out, I thought I was going to get in trouble ... I didn't know what it would be like to be a dad. I will be good, though, and care for it."

The families of both of the new, young parents are reportedly standing by them.

Alfie Patten's father Dennis, 45, said his son was fully committed to his new paternal role.

"He could have shrugged his shoulders and sat at home on his Playstation. But he has been at the hospital every day," he said.

The baby, who weighed in at seven pounds and 3.27 kilograms, was conceived after just one night of unprotected sex, the Sun reported. Alfie was 12-years-old at the time.

The case has drawn comment from UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, while a former leader of the main opposition Conservative Party said it was an example of social breakdown in "broken Britain".

"I don't know the individual details of the case but of course I think all of us would want to avoid teenage pregnancies," Mr Brown told reporters when asked about the case.

'Broken Britain'

But Iain Duncan Smith, a senior lawmaker and ex-Conservative leader, said someone needed to speak out about the breakdown of the family in Britain.

"Too many dysfunctional families in Britain today have children growing up where anything goes," he said.

"It exemplifies the point we have been making about broken Britain. It's not being accusative, it's about pointing out the complete collapse in some parts of society of any sense of what's right and wrong.

"There is no opprobrium any more about behaviour and quite often children witness behaviour that's aggressive, violent, rude and sexual. It's as if no-one is saying this is wrong."

The Government has launched a strategy to reduce teenage pregnancy in England, which has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in western Europe.

Advisers say the level is falling but have called for more accessible contraceptives and more sex education in schools in areas which are falling behind.

Such efforts were praised by Tony Kerridge, a spokesman for Marie Stopes International, which runs sexual health clinics in 40 countries worldwide.

But he added that many young people in Britain needed to be encouraged to have higher aspirations.

"We have got the social aspect of young girls in the UK seeing having a baby as a route to getting their own place," he said.

"It may seem like a short-term solution to problems at home, but the mid- to long-term prospects are probably a life stuck on benefits.

"We should, as a society, be encouraging our young people to have much bigger and better aspirations than that."

Police could have brought a prosecution for underage sex in the latest case because the age of consent in Britain is 16, but say they will not press charges.

- AFP

Saw this on the news and that kid looked more baby face than I was when I was 13. I am wondering how this kid would finish high school and get some type of job which can support this child.

[Executor32]

Hell, the kid looks more babyfaced than I did when I was nine.

[Enigma]

Hell, the kid looks more babyfaced than I did when I was nine.

Actually he looks like he can pass off as a 5 year old and the girl could pass off as an adult.

[Aratech]

Anyone else have the feeling this is going to end in tears?

[Darth Wong]

Honestly, if you showed me that picture I would have assumed the kid was about 8 or 9 years old, and is the baby's older brother. My son Matthew is 13, and he's already growing a moustache.

[ray245]

The couple is going to need a lot of welfare support to pull through. A lot of it.

What kind of welfare support, does the UK offer to underage parents?

[Darth Wong]

I am wondering how this kid would finish high school and get some type of job which can support this child.

He'll foist off the baby on his parents, and the baby will basically be raised by Grandma and Grandpa while Mom and Dad run around partying and being kids.

[Zablorg]

My son Matthew is 13, and he's already growing a moustache.

Lucky bastard.

I think it's good that the kid wants to look after it, but that's obviously not going to be possible and I seriously doubt he really understands what goes into raising a kid anyway, or at least raising it properly. If this doesn't end with results for sex ed I don't think anything will.

[Superboy]

From another article:

Alfie, who is just 4ft tall, hasn't yet hit puberty and was 12 when the baby was conceived,

Anyone else think this story might not be entirely true?

[ray245]

From another article:

Alfie, who is just 4ft tall, hasn't yet hit puberty and was 12 when the baby was conceived,

Anyone else think this story might not be entirely true?

Didn't the UK teach sexual education at a young age or something? If not, that boy will not have an understanding how do you have babies in the first place.

[Admiral Valdemar]

From another article:

Alfie, who is just 4ft tall, hasn't yet hit puberty and was 12 when the baby was conceived,

Anyone else think this story might not be entirely true?

Why?

Didn't the UK teach sexual education at a young age or something? If not, that boy will not have an understanding how do you have babies in the first place.

Don't be dense. The boy doesn't believe the storks bring babies. He was more than fully aware when he put his pecker in this girl, but he, like most teenage parents, didn't fully realise the consequences (or what an abortion is).

[Terralthra]

If he hasn't hit puberty, his testicles aren't producing sperm yet. That's part of what puberty means in males: gamete production.

Either he's hit puberty, or he's not the father.

[Hawkwings]

My bet's on the "he's not the father" theory, and that the girl is now protecting the real father by telling this kid that he's the father.

[Stark]

Is it wrong that my first thought was 'oh wow she's fuck ugly'?

Mike is almost certainly right; the kid will be raised by the parents (either out of shame or honest interest) and the parents will just forget about it until it's half their age.

[tim31]

Either he's hit puberty, or he's not the father.

The voice not having broken is a somewhat tenuous clue there as well, and I'm inclined to agree. But it doesn't matter who fathered the child, it's still a fucked up situation. Wasn't there a smiliar case less than two years ago?

STARK: no dude, it's okay.

MIKE W: a moustache? Jesus, you enjoy pornography and your son will live it.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Has there been.. any tests to check whether he's the father?

That doesn't change the other fact that the kid is having sex at age 13 which is frankly ridiculous.

[Stark]

It's not really; people are just reacting to the ludicrously youthful appearance of this guy. I mean fuck, he looks like I did at 7 - most 13 year old's don't look like that at all and thus wouldn't have this reaction.

[Ubiquitous]

Has there been.. any tests to check whether he's the father?

That doesn't change the other fact that the kid is having sex at age 13 which is frankly ridiculous.

There's going to be tests now, because several other youths have claimed that the child is theirs.

[Bedlam]

Has there been.. any tests to check whether he's the father?

That doesn't change the other fact that the kid is having sex at age 13 which is frankly ridiculous.

There's going to be tests now, because several other youths have claimed that the child is theirs.

Heres an article on that very topic: -

Boy, 13, 'may not be baby's father'
1 hour 6 mins ago

Print Story
Baby-faced Alfie Patten may not be a father at 13 after all amid allegations that the mother has had several other sexual partners, it was reported. Skip related content
Related photos / videos Alfie Patten may not be a father at 13, reports suggest The case of Alfie - who was just 12 when the baby was conceived - has already provoked a fierce political debate over the high rate of teenage pregnancies in the UK and the sexualisation of children.

But two other teenagers believe they may have fathered six-day old Maisie, whose mother Chantelle Steadman is herself just 15.

Richard Goodsell, 16, told the News of the World that he also shared a bed with the teenager at her home in Eastbourne, East Sussex, at around the time she became pregnant.

Richard, a trainee chef, said: "I know I could be the father. Everyone thinks I am. My friends all tell me that the baby has my eyes - even my mum thinks so. Even Chantelle's mum asked me if I was the father. If I am the father, I have the right to know."

Richard, who told the paper he slept with Chantelle with the consent of her parents and without using any contraception, said he plans to demand a DNA test is carried out to find out the truth.

Chantelle lives with her mother, Penny, and father, Steve, in a council house on the Old Town estate.

Tyler Barker, 14, also told the paper he could have fathered Maisie, born at the Eastbourne District General Hospital last week. He said he slept with Chantelle around nine months ago, again in her own bed. Realising the gravity of the situation, he added: "I hope it's not me."

Both boys and their parents are reported to have made sworn statements in front of a solicitor detailing their encounters with Chantelle.

The situation has provoked outrage from politicians and charity workers who said it exemplified the "complete collapse" of parts of society. Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, who runs the Centre for Social Justice think tank, said the birth highlighted another case of "broken Britain" where "anything goes".

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20090215/tu ... 23e80.html

[Solauren]

Okay, so three sexual partners in the conception time period, and she's claiming the youngest one, who had not hit puberty, is the father?

Right.....

Quite frankly, the 16 year old is the more likely candidate. More developed sexual maturity, probably superior sperm production compared to the 14 year old, and everyone is going 'looks like ya' (mind you, that doesn't mean squat when compared to a DNA test).

Maybe she claimed the squirt (pun intended) is the father because she felt less likely she'd be forced into marriage or something.

Well, it's up the the lab to figure out now.

But still, this is sad, and not in an emotional type way.

[CarsonPalmer]

What is this claim on the sixteen year old's part that he slept with the mother on "her parent's consent", and without any contraception? My fifteen year old daughter certainly won't be having sex with my consent at that age, and even more certainly not without any contraception.

This is even more fucked up than it seemed at first glance, if that's possible.

[Kitsune]

Well, DNA should prove the case. One item is that there was a case of a six year old pregnant girl.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lina_Medina

Even if Skeptical, there are other examples almost as young

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_yo ... th_mothers

[Spin Echo]

What is this claim on the sixteen year old's part that he slept with the mother on "her parent's consent", and without any contraception? My fifteen year old daughter certainly won't be having sex with my consent at that age, and even more certainly not without any contraception.

Heh. When I was first meeting my husband's mother, he and I had been only dating a couple of months and I wondered if might be seen as a little strange that we were sharing a bed. His reply was that when his sixteen year old sister visited from boarding school (they go off to boarding school for high school up there due to low population density) with her boyfriend, his parents gave up the master bedroom for the couple. Of course, the Scandinavians are much better with the contraception education.

I'm pretty sure the Christian right has declared the north of Norway to be the place with the lowest morals in the world.

[Raptor]

I don't think the baby being raised by the grandparents is a great idea. This storys been in the news for a couple of days now. The girl who at 15 found a short 11 year old attractive enough to sleep with, lives in a household with her Dad, and 5 other male relatives I can't remember if their brothers or uncles all on benefits. The boy's dad left them for a 19 year old. So you've got two benefit dependant families breeding more benefit dependant families. Nice. The problem with welfare for this kind of thing its 'someone will pay/look after me' or 'not my problem its the goverments'. Me paying my taxes for the less fortuante or for me when/if I am in bad situation yes. But to pay for a bunch of thick shits to breed is not what I want my taxes to go on.

[Dartzap]

The fact the story was broken by The Sun of all chipwrappings, would suggest there was more to this story anyway. The more the other media types investigate, the more it'll be revealed properly.