Posted on 12/20/2010 10:19:49 AM PST by Sopater
Cradling the new arrival, April Webster may look like the proud big sister.
But the baby-faced schoolgirl and her sometime boyfriend Nathan Fishbourne have just become Britain’s youngest parents after conceiving son Jamie when they were both only 13.
April and schoolfriend Nathan started having unprotected sex after they began dating in September last year.
She was ‘too embarrassed’ to tell her parents about the sexual side to their relationship until she found out she was pregnant a day before her 14th birthday.
The baby arrived by Caesarean section on November 15, weighing 8lb 14oz. The teenagers are still trying to work out how to cope with parenthood while still children themselves – and even whether they remain a couple.
While Nathan, who is now also 14, insists they are still an item, April claimed they were having a ‘cooling off’ period and was unsure if their relationship would resume.
She said: ‘He has not turned his back on the baby but he’s asking to do things like have him stay over at his house and that has caused some arguments. We have a few things to sort out’.
Yesterday Nathan’s grandmother, Deirdre Rolph, 66, added to the confusion by claiming the teenagers were ‘very in love’.
The pair, who were in the same year at St Cenydd Comprehensive School in their home town of Caerphilly, South Wales, started seeing each other when they were aged 13. April left school 16 weeks into the pregnancy and now attends an educational centre for young mothers.
April lives with parents Jeff, 38, a taxi driver, and Maria, 36 at their four-bedroom end-of-terrace home.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
This argument is ludicrous. Nobody is condemning these kids (or their relatives) for bringing the child into this world. The disgust here is for (a) having sex at all (much less unprotected sex) at age 13 and (b) expecting somebody else to support the child that resulted from your immoral behavior. I think it's wonderful the child is alive and well. Now it's time to find a real family for the new baby.
I think it’s normal for people that age to be in love. Historically, kings and queens have married at that age. It doesn’t fit out modern social construct. I don’t know what the solution is.
Sadly, it happened to my sister's daughter. My younger sister and her husband weren't good role models to their 4 kids. My niece was 13 when she got pregnant and kept the baby. My sister and her husband lost their jobs and house, and moved to another state to find work. But the niece wanted to stay and a tug of war ensued between 2 of my sisters for custody of my niece. A judge granted custody to the aunt (my other sister among 4 that I have) - she was also a poor role model. She was maneuvering for the state assistance checks given for the support of niece and baby.
The state went after the sister and husband who had moved, seizing their paychecks and assets to cover the state assistance funds, causing them to lose everything again. The sister who had custody spent the money on herself and used little for the support of the baby.
The baby is now 6, and my niece is working as a "hostess" at a strip joint. I don't know how she pulled that off, as she is not yet 21. Me and my other siblings had tried to intervene and help her over the last 6 years but were rebuffed. Sad all around. P.S. The two sisters are liberal democrats, the rest of us siblings are conservative republicans with normal families.
Juliet was a character in fiction written by Shakespear.
But regardless, two wrongs do not make a right.
What is ludicrous is the amount of assumption you and others are making regarding their choice of birth control and their long-term plans for raising their child. Your last sentence says explicitly that you think they should throw in the towel and let someone else raise the child.
You might THINK that you are hating the sin rather than the sinner but advocating that the child be taken away says otherwise.
I actually agree with what you’re saying with the exception of the last sentence. However, I think the proper course of action is to enable these young folks to be good parents through guidance rather than vitriol towards their actions a year in the past. Did it ever occur to you that some young mothers-to-be may consider abortion because one element of society treats them like Hester Prynn if they have a child out of wedlock?
If so, then you are there with us. Please dont think for a second that America dosent have underage pregnancy.
Sorry, you are reading too much into that. I know the newspaper, and what it reads as is what it reads as. The Daily Mail is a VERY conservative newspaper and frankly detests feckless people like these two. The DM is as about as much a ‘progressive’ newspaper as the head of the KKK is pro-black.
Yes and no.
Britain is the worst for teenage pregnancy in Europe, but 11-13 yr old mothers and fathers is still shocking.
These young parents, and the possibilities for their child, have many deficits against them, from the start.
How it all turns out can overcome those deficits, IF the young couple has a TON of ongoing support from their families, and if they have it in themselves to become good parents much earlier in life than most young people are capable of doing.
My prayers?
100% for the child.
Thats a terrible position to be in. It must be very frustrating.
What can a reasonable person do when people who are going down such a self-destructive path refuse help ? They can’t be forced to accept help, even at the age of 13.
I don’t think to the contrary at all. What disgusts me is how people don’t shake their heads about this.
...and therefore, you believe thirteen year olds should screw there brains out and produce off-spring that they can't support.
Papers can have editorial pages that are conservative, but journalist remain overwhelmingly members of the PC herd. The Wall Street Journal is a conservative paper, but the articles outside of the editorial page are permiated with PC buzzwords.
You must get a lot of exercise jumping so energetically to conclusions.
I was merely pointing out that this is hardly something new.
I could also have pointed out that in Christian legend the Virgin Mary was 13 or 14 years old when she became pregnant.
Oddly enough, you sound very "pro" teen pregancy.
I could also have pointed out that in Christian legend the Virgin Mary was 13 or 14 years old when she became pregnant.
You also sound quite "progressive."
OK, I’m confused. What is it about the term “Christian legend” that to you sounds “progressive?”
How would you describe stories about the life of the Virgin that are not found in Scripture and were first written down many centuries after the fact?
Believe me, we do.
People in Britain are sick of the feckless, the lazy, the workshy, the teenage tarts and the teenage fathers.
Mate, I read the Daily Mail.
I can assure that it is a very conservative and PC-free paper from front to back.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.