13yo Boy Becomes A Father

Schoolboy becomes father at just 13

Press Association
Saturday 3 October 2009

A schoolboy aged 13 has become one of Britain's youngest fathers, it has been reported.

The boy, from Manchester, was "chuffed to bits" after his 16-year-old girlfriend gave birth to a baby girl this week, the Daily Mirror said.

His father told the paper: "My son is mature for his age and will make a good father. He will make a better dad than most 25-year-old men would."

The young couple's identity cannot be revealed for legal reasons. They are said to have been in a relationship for some time, although they did not go to the same school.

His father added: "He isn't bewildered about about what has happened. He was a bit shocked at first but now he's chuffed to bits."

Earlier this year another 13-year-old, Alfie Patten, from Eastbourne in East Sussex, was believed to have become a father after his 15-year-old girlfriend conceived. But, DNA tests later showed that another 15-year-old was the father.

Britain has the worst teenage pregnancy rate in Europe, with an estimated around 43,000 teenage mothers created in England every year.

This latest case comes after new measures to deal with teenage pregnancies announced by Gordon Brown this week. He said teenage parents on benefits would be forced to live in "supervised homes" instead of being given council houses.

"It's time to address a problem that for too long has gone unspoken: the number of children having children," he declared.

In 2007, there were 42,918 pregnancies among under-18s.