Britain's youngest father,13-year-old Alfie Patten,has reignited the debate about teenage pregnancyafter his 15-year-old girlfriend gave birth to a daughter .
Alfie,whose voice has not broken,became an unlikely celebrity after the sun revealed he had fathered Maisie Roxanne with Chantelle Steadman.
The boy was 12 and Chantelle 14 when they conceived after a bout of unprotected sex.
the shy Alfie told The sun that he and Chantelle decided against bortion when they found she was pregnant-by then three months-because "i thought it would be good to have a baby."
They kept it a secret for six weeks,fearing thier patrents' reaction.
"we didn't think we would needed help from our parents,"said Chantelle,who lives with unemployed parents Steve,43,and Penny,38and four younger brothers.
"You don't really think about that when you find out you are pregnant.you just think your parents will kill you."
Asked what he would do to support the child financially,Alfie ask in a high-pitchedvoice:"what's financially?"
Still,police and child services officers in Eastbourne,southeast England,said they were offering support to both young people.
The girl was taking birth controlpills but miss one,the sun reported.
Alfie father,Dannis,who has nine childrenand is separated from the boy's mother,Nicola,said his son did not really understand the enormity of his situation.
"When i spoke to him about the pregnancy he started crying.He said it was the first time he'd had sex,that he didn't know what he was doing and of the complications that could come."
Maisie's birth has been greeted by widespread criticisem.Former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith said it was a tragic example of Britain's social decline.
As for prime minister Gordon Brown,he said:"i don't know the individual details of the case,but of course I think all of us would want to avoid teenage pregnancies."
Britain has one of highest teen pregnancy rates in europe.about 39,000 girls under age 18 became pregnant in 2006.more than 7,000 were youger than 16.There were 27 birth per 1,000 girls age 15-19 between 2000 and 2005.
Comparable figures are 10 per 1,000for spain,eight in 1,000 in France,and five in 1,000for the Netherlands.
Britain's teens pregnancy rate,however,is far below that of the United States,with 44 births per 1,000 girls age 15-19.It is more in line with countries such as Australia and New Zealand,which respectively have 17 and 27 births per 1,000 girls age 15-19.
BRITAIN STRUGGLES WITH TEENAGE PREGNANCY ISSUE
