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© AlamyAround 300 girls aged 13 or under get pregnant every year in England and Wales.
Primary schoolgirls as young as 10 are getting pregnant, according to new figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Since 2002, a total of 15 ten year olds and 39 aged 11 have fallen pregnant in England and Wales.

The figures come as a shock as until now the UK's youngest known mother, from Scotland, was 11 when she conceived and 12 when she gave birth.

And they could be higher still since the number of illegal abortions and miscarriages - more prevalent among very young women - are not known. Government statistics show 60 per cent of under-age pregnant girls have an abortion.

Around 300 girls aged 13 or under become pregnant every year in England and Wales.

Since 2002, there have been 63,487 pregnancies among under-15s - almost 23 every day. There were 268 pregnancies of 12 year-old girls, 2,527 of 13 year-olds, 14,777 of 14 year-olds and 45,861 of 15 year-olds.

It is not known how many of the pregnancies were carried to full term or aborted, nor how the girls became pregnant so young.

Nor are there figures available for how many underage boys have become fathers since it is often difficult to prove paternity.

A recent study showed that the London boroughs of Lewisham, Southwark and Lambeth had the highest under-age pregnancy rates in Britain.

Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in western Europe, despite a series of Government campaigns aimed at reducing the problem.

Experts said the latest figures proved children were becoming more sexualised and young girls were engaging in sex early to please older boyfriends.

Prof Frank Furedi, from the University of Kent, said the figures were "tragic".

"They show the consequences of the sexualisation of childhood," he told The Sun, which obtained the figures.

Norman Wells, of the Family Education Trust, blamed schools for allowing children to believe that it was acceptable to become sexually active at an early stage.

Official guidance issued earlier this month suggested that children as young as seven should be taught about puberty and sexual intercourse in compulsory sex education lessons, according to official guidance. Plans have also been announced for pregnancy tests to be made available to girls as young as 11 at school health clinics.

Anastasia de Waal, of think tank Civitas, agreed children were behaving like adults without realising the complications.

"Often the girls feel they have to have sex to please their older boyfriends," she said.