14 DAY TRIAL // The father of the schoolgirl who has become Britain’s youngest mum after giving birth to a baby daughter at the age of 12 called a radio station yesterday to defend his daughter and say that he is very proud of her.
The teenage mother was just 11 years old when she fell pregnant and gave birth to her 13-year-old boyfriend’s baby on Sunday. The young couple have become Britain's youngest parents and have vowed to stay together as a family to raise their daughter in harmony.
After news of the birth emerged and quickly spread across media outlets, the baby’s grandfather decided to break the silence and called radio station LBC to reveal that both families are supportive and are going to stand by their children, the Mirror informs.
Using a false name, Greg, to protect the identity of his daughter, the man said, “That little girl does not bring shame to me at all, I’m so proud of her. Shame doesn’t even come into it.”
He added that he “broke down with emotion” when he found out his eldest daughter was about to give birth, and admitted he only discovered the news when the unnamed girl was already eight months pregnant.
The man, who no longer lives with the girl’s mother and has two other children with her, says he was angry when people claimed they allowed this to happen, and denied that they could have prevented it.
“We didn’t know this was happening. Unfortunately kids this age are going to grow up to have boyfriends and partners or whatever. If they do things behind their parents’ back that’s something we’re never going to be able to find out,” he stated.
On the other hand, he said he would prefer this situation to discovering his daughter had been taking drugs. So, the only thing he, the girl's mother and the boy's parents can do right now is be supportive.
“You can just be supportive about it. The families on both sides are going to be very supportive about it. It is heartbreaking, but you can't turn back time. You can only go forwards,” he added.
Referring to the allegations that the couple want to marry and become a family, the girl's father said, "They're not going to get married [but] I couldn't say that in six years, I'd like to think they're going to turn out to be one happy family."
The incredibly young mother was just ten years old when she met the father of her baby and was still at primary school when she conceived last summer. At 12 years and three months old, the new mother is five months younger than UK's previous youngest mum, Tressa Middleton, who gave birth in Edinburgh at the age of 12 years and eight months, in 2006.