© Unknown
Country's laws prohibit abortion procedures for children under 12
A 10-year-old Mexican girl has given birth to a baby boy after a 31-week pregnancy, according to reports.
The premature infant, which weighed 3.3 pounds, was born by Caesarian section at the Women's Hospital in the city of Puebla and is in the intensive care unit recovering from pneumonia.
The young mother, who is from the nearby San Francisco Totimehuacan community, has returned home after the procedure but visits the baby every day to breastfeed, officials said.
The Puebla state Attorney General's Office is now investigating whether the girl could have been raped and who the father is, the hospital's director Rogelio Gonzalez said, according to UpFrontNewswire.
Mexican state laws say young moms are unable to have abortions unless a girl can prove she was the victim of sexual assault.
The state's minimum age of consent is 12 and women who undergo abortions in Puebla face a fine or prison sentence if they are unable to prove they were sexually abused.
The laws are currently under review.
The girl, who has not been named, arrived at the medical facility on Oct. 22, suffering from life-threatening complications, including seizures.
Hospital officials said the newborn is in a good condition considering his premature birth and the mother is recovering well.
This is not the first case of a shockingly young girl giving birth in Mexico.
In August last year, 11-year-old Amalia had a child two weeks premature after she was denied an abortion by the local Justice Department during the fourth month of pregnancy.
She was raped repeatedly by her stepfather when she was 10 years old, but local laws do not allow terminations after three months.
Reader Comments
What's the deal with the picture of an obvious 4-6yr old???
When are we going to protect Children? It beggars belief that in the year 2011 supposedly civilised and intelligent humans are incapable of physically and legally protecting Children. When will humanity wake up?
Much Peace...to all the abused Children everywhere...
This is too crazy, the girl does not look as old as 10. Breastfeeding? The girl in the pic has no breasts. I hate this to happen, but I think this is a fake story.
When a girl of 5 had a baby in 1939, her condition was called "precocious puberty."
In 10 year olds this is somewhat common. You don't think of children that young as having sex. Many early pregnancies are caused by rape, but not all.
I cannot vouch for the photograph, though.
where is that girl's mom? no mention of parents? she is breastfeeding? she has no breasts!! what kind of a world do we live in????
"The state's minimum age of consent is 12"
- Wow, really? What is wrong with them?
"The Puebla state Attorney General's Office is now investigating whether the girl could have been raped"
-LoL whether or not she could have been raped? Is it common for 10 year old girls in Mexico wanting to make babies?
"The laws are currently under review"
-Ooh gee, wonder what took em so long.
What a disgusting community.