Report: 10-Year-Old Gives Birth in Spain

A 10-year-old girl has given birth in southern Spain and authorities are evaluating whether to let her and her family retain custody of the baby, an official said Tuesday.

The baby was born last week in the city of Jerez de la Frontera, said Micaela Navarro, the Andalusia region's social affairs minister.

Navarro told reporters the father of the baby is also a minor, and both the mother and the baby were in good health. Her department declined to give further details, such as the sex of baby.

Spanish newspapers said the mother is of Romanian origin. The daily Diario de Jerez quoted medical staffers (Spanish) who treated the girl as saying they were told by her mother that giving birth at such a young age is common in their country. The mother also told staffers the young girl lives with her boyfriend there.

The paper reported that the girl had a relatively uneventful birth: she did not require a cesarean section or to be admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit.

Medical experts warn that because young girls are still growing themselves, they are at higher risk during pregnancy. Studies have shown that teenage girls are more likely to give birth to premature babies and their infants have a higher chance of dying by age one.

[zyx-xyz]

Wow, what a beautiful story. Do a web search w/ "romanian 10 birth spain incest"; you'll find the father was a 13-year-old cousin. Try this blog for some shocking history:
http://my.telegraph.co.uk/expat/annanicholas/10140414/the-little-girl-left-holding-the-baby/ I had no idea a 5-year-old girl had ever given birth. Death penalty to any male who has intercourse with any girl younger than 15.

[sharkboy234]

how that 10 year old give birth like that mostly teen 14-19,20-29 and 30-39 some one need to tell inside edition, extra ,access hollywood, and insider about this that's incredible.

[Bill_USAF]

This is not a regular occurance in Romania, at least not according to my Romanian friends here in Northern Italy. We don't necessarily know the whole story. We don't know the age of the boy, why they had intercourse (was it forced..etc). All we know from this article is the 10 yr old girl delivered a baby. It's a shame this had to happen, but at least the girl is ok and so is the baby. This isn't something that Europeans traditionally do. It also happens in our country as well. All we should do is make sure we take care of our families and teach our kids to take care of themselves and to be responsible.

[goatframer]

like dey say down south...old enuff to bleed...old enuff to breed. So much for childhood innocence in the heathen EU.

[zyx-xyz]

Ha ha ha! Never heard this one, but know I now how to pick up girls down South. (Just kidding, just kidding...!)

[formrusmcsgt]

A grandparent at 20.........incomprehensible. A grandparent who is possibly not even old enough to vote..........

[formrusmcsgt]

I pity the children of Romania. Becoming a mother at 10 is "common occurance". Incredible. Mind-boggling, actually. Allow me to rephrase - I pity the children of Romania and their offspring as well.....

[JamesB621]

Jeez man! There is a vast difference between Romanians and the Roma. Romanians would never subject their children to any such practices! What this article is about are the Roma, Gypsies, not a country but a culture, people who have no roots in any one country but wander about Eastern Europe, where ever they lay their head is home.

[unfairlytaxed]

It sounds like the little girl is a gypsy. Gypsies are a terrible problem in Spain and southern France. They treat their women like livestock. When I was a teen, I overheard a negotiation between two gypsy men arranging a marrage. The father negotiated and sold his daughter, the bride-to-be (a 12 year old) was for two pigs. Every year after that when I visited for summer vacation, that poor girl was pregnate again and followed by little ones...so sad.

[Jaylah54]

Please learn the difference between Romanians and Romani. They are NOT the same.

[cgirltruck]

Like other cultures treat women better? Why single out gypsies? Until recently even American men as a culture treated their women like...well, you know the word I was going to use. It isn't as if this is something new to the human culture.

[Molly-Pchr]

Which is the sin? The sex or the birth of the child? I wonder, if she had sex and had not conceived, would there be such an outcry? Would we be reading, "9-year-old girl has sex in Spain"? The way I see many 10-year-old girls going to our grammar and middle schools with their parents' blessing and their liberal hands-off approach to their daughters' obvious attempt at sex appeal, what's so different? The baby, that's all. Boy, are we messed up.

[linfinster]

Actually Molly, the fact that there is a baby proves that sexual intercourse took place, and that is why people are outraged. We can't just say you can't have sex with a child because there is no proof it is occurring and it's just an accusation at that point. THIS sick and sad story of "the baby" confirms our feelings and allows us to condemn what most humans should already believe.

[johndevinejr]

When I was in the 8th Grade in Catholic School a girl in my younger sister's 5th Grade class became pregnant and bore the child.

So much for the notion that "conservatives" have success in trying to prevent their children from learning anything about human reproduction.

[rematenaj]

Sad. Just plain sad.

[erasmus111]

Replace "sad" with "SICK".

[mokey22]

That means she must've been 9 or barley 10 when she got pregnant