10-year-old girl gives birth in east-central Mexico

[News_Editor]

10-year-old girl gives birth in east-central Mexico

2011-11-10 17:37:54 GMT+7 (ICT)

PUEBLA, MEXICO (BNO NEWS) -- A 10-year-old girl has given birth to a baby boy in east-central Mexico after a pregnancy of nearly eight months, officials confirmed on Thursday. She was unable to have an abortion due to state laws.

The young girl, who is almost 11, is from the San Francisco Totimehuacan community near the city of Puebla, the capital of the state which carries the same name. She had previously sought medical attention on October 22 because she had been experiencing complications which were threatening her health.

According to reports, the child gave birth at the Women's Hospital in the city of Puebla after a pregnancy of 31 weeks. The baby boy weighed about 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) at the time of his birth and was taken to the hospital's intensive care unit where he is recovering from pneumonia.

Women's Hospital director Rogelio Gonzalez said the newborn is in a good condition considering his premature birth. He also said the mother is recovering well from the caesarean section and has already returned home, but is visiting the hospital daily to breastfeed her child.

Meanwhile, Gonzalez added that the pregnancy has been reported to the State Attorney General's office due to the young age of the mother. Authorities have already launched an investigation to determine who the father is and if sexual abuse was involved, as the state's minimum age of consent is 12.

In the state of Puebla, abortion is an illegal practice and women who decide to undergo such procedure may face criminal charges that may lead to a fine and a prison sentence, except if the woman is able to prove she was sexually abused. The State Congress is currently reviewing proposed laws which would abolish a prison term for abortion.

In August 2010, an eleven-year old Mayan girl named Amalia gave birth in southern Mexico, two weeks earlier than expected. The birth came months after the local Justice Department had denied an abortion to the girl because she was in the fourth month of pregnancy.

The case of Amalia generated national media interest due to her age and the fact she was denied an abortion, despite being repeatedly raped by her stepfather when she was 10 years old. Local laws in the state where she was born do not allow abortions after the third month of pregnancy.

Amalia's case was reminiscent to that of then 13-year-old Paulina Ramírez Jacinto, who was raped in 1999 by a drug addict who broke into her house while she was sleeping. Paulina and her family began and eventually won legal procedures in the state of Baja California to have an abortion.

But Paulina was unable to have the abortion because the hospital refused to carry out the medical procedure. Instead, the girl was sent to religious and anti-abortion groups who convinced the child to give birth. In 2005, the Interamerican Human Rights Commission (CIDH) ordered the state to pay compensation to Paulina and to pay alimony to her son until he reaches legal age.

So far, the youngest confirmed mother gave birth in 1939 in Peru. A local girl, Lina Medina, gave birth to a boy at the tender age of just five. Despite investigations, it was not possible to determine who the father was.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-11-10

[Moonrakers]

Authorities have already launched an investigation to determine who the father is and if sexual abuse was involved, as the state's minimum age of consent is 12.

Alai na?

[MrMuddle]

Children having children, one of the truly sad things in our world. Like Moonrakers, I can't believe the age of consent is 12. How on earth is a child of that age supposed to make an informed decision on sexual intercourse? Absolutely ridiculous.

Let's hope the poor girl has supportive parents who can help her bring her baby up, it's hard enough when the parents are adults, and there are two of them.

[Riely]

" She was unable to have an abortion due to state laws."

Raped by her stepfather, pregnant at 10, and these savages won't let her have an abortion. As if her life wasn't F'ed up enough already. I feel for this poor girl.

[Junglejumbo]

Age of consent in Thailand is 15 but in effect it's actually 18 unless both partners are 15-18 looking at the cases that come to court. The law here is murky. Baker and Makenzi argued in an article that it's certainly 15 but you need parental conset to avoid a kidnapping charge but for sex you're within your rights regardless if one partner is over 18 or not. However, you read about so many reports of foreigners being arrested for "underage sex" when the person is either 15, 16 or even 17.....

.

[maidu]

reminds me of something I saw in a zoo, years ago.

In the monkey cage, there was a large alpha male sitting in an upper corner. He had a very young monkey in his lap, both his arms tightly wrapped around her. She was his sex toy. Not much different than the sickos ruining little girls' lives.

[GentlemanJim]

Well, thats religion for you. There was a good chance of a child as young as this dying during her giving birth (technically I should have wrote 'childbirth, bit it didn't sound right, a child in childbirth ), yet they were willing even in this case to allow an already abused girl to go through a procedure that most adult women find almost unbearable. Sham on the community, shame on the Government, and shame on the church. She should be in school, but now she is breastfeeding. That's a very dark life ahead for her and her baby. I do hope that DNA tests are done and the stepfather gets his dues.

I also have a feeling that now the story has been published the sex pests in Thailand will now be migrating over towards Mexico I hope they go ahead, summary justice at the hands of local drug thugs is rather swift and brutal in Mexico.

[ludditeman]

Having a baby at age 10 seems wrong, but equally killing a baby seems wrong too.

Thankfully it was one of those decisions that I will never have to make.

Edited November 11, 2011 by ludditeman

[Scott]

This article is about a girl in Mexico. Age of consent in Thailand is off-topic and will no doubt lead to the unending debate that has occurred in other threads.

Further off-topic posts will be deleted.

[Mario2008]

Age of consent in Thailand is 15 but in effect it's actually 18 unless both partners are 15-18 looking at the cases that come to court. The law here is murky. Baker and Makenzi argued in an article that it's certainly 15 but you need parental conset to avoid a kidnapping charge but for sex you're within your rights regardless if one partner is over 18 or not. However, you read about so many reports of foreigners being arrested for "underage sex" when the person is either 15, 16 or even 17.....

.

The law is indeed murky. One doesn't become of age untill you turn 21 and parents can lay a complaint against soemone for keeping/luring their underage child away from them. In addition, while a minor can give consent, the consent can be withdrawn afterwards. I'm not sure if also a parent can withdraw consent.

[GentlemanJim]

The last two posts have to be somewhat unique in their occurrence on Thai visa!