Pre-Teen Pregnancy In US: 11-Year-Old Girl Now Mother to Baby Boy

Her bones aren't quite fused, and once you expose a child this young to progesterone and estrogen, it could halt her growth

A possible indication of rising child pregnancies in the US, now reports are emerging of an 11-year-old girl has given birth to a baby boy.

The identity of the girl and her family has not been revealed in a bid to protect the new parent's privacy. The birth was at Northeast Hospital in US.

Teen Pregnancy Rate Jumps for First Time in US Since 1990: Study
The US teen pregnancy rate rose in 2006 for the first time in 16 years, as experts speculated that the increase was due to abstinence-only sex education in schools.

"My daughter and (her) baby are fine, and the baby is absolutely beautiful," Fox News quoted the mother of the girl as saying.

Dr. Abdulla Al-Khan, a leading high-risk obstetrician, has pointed out that the pre-teen's body may not have yet developed to carry a child, despite the fact that she has given birth to a baby boy.

"Her body is clearly not defined for pregnancy with its short stature," Fox News quoted Al-Khan, as saying.

Unwed Mum Bristol Palin Joins Teen Pregnancy Prevention Campaign
Unwed teen mother Bristol Palin has become the new face of The Candie's Foundation to help raise awareness for teen pregnancy prevention.

He added: "Her chest is not extensively developed for breast tissue, her bones aren't quite fused, and once you expose a child this young to high amounts of progesterone and especially estrogen, there is (a possibility) that it could halt her growth.

"The textbooks don't even tell you how to deal with a 10-year-old; it's completely different even though we understand the basics.

Teen Pregnancy Program Abandoned in UK
The Young People's Development Programme (YPDP), which was launched to curb teen pregnancies in 27 parts of England, has now been abandoned.

"Think about how difficult a pregnancy is for someone in their 20s or 30s ... the aches, pains, the sleep deprivation," Al-Khan said. "Now imagine it in a child."

Also, Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist said: "This is heart-wrenching because you have a kid whose mental capacities can't possibly wrap themselves around what it means to be a mother.

Teen Pregnancy Rises As Teen Contraceptive Use Declines In US: Study
The progress made in the 1990s and early 2000s in improving teen contraceptive use and reducing teen pregnancy and childbearing stalled between 2003 and 2007, may even have reversed.

"There are so many psychological minefields in store for her. Feelings of guilt, feelings of wanting to nurture another human being, and yet this is all very, very complex and intense when she looks to her own family to essentially support, and if you will, father her child.

"She has her own life plan, and yet there's another life that should take precedence."

Al-Khan briefed that the youngest documented case of a child pregnancy was in 1939 in Lima, Peru.

A recent report by the Guttmacher Institute claimed teen pregnancies in the U.S. were up 3 percent in 2006.

Source-ANI
TAN