Boy Becomes Father at Age 13

Despite his baby-faced looks giving most the first impression that he would only be seven or eight years of age, Alfie Patten is now ready for the world to know that he is a whole thirteen years old - and is also now a father. On February 9th and after five hours of labor, Alfie’s fifteen-year-old girlfriend, Chantelle Steadman, gave birth to their 7lb 30z daughter, Maisie Roxanne.

When Chantelle was unknowingly 12 weeks pregnant, persistent stomach pains sent her to the doctor, with Alfie at her side. When asked if they had had sex they responded that yes, they had - when Alfie was, at the time, a mere twelve years old - at which a pregnancy test was administered. When the shocking news was delivered, both came to the same decision about their situation. They would not allow for the baby to be aborted.

As the round-faced Alfie shyly said, “I thought it would be good to have a baby.”

The pair hid the pregnancy from their parents as long as they could but, suspicious about her daughter’s sudden weight gain, Chantelle’s mother, Penny, decided to confront her child and Chantelle confessed the situation.

Despite the shocking circumstances, both families of the young parents remain supportive. [i]“I told her [Chantelle] it was lovely to have the baby but I wish it was in different circumstances,” says Penny Steadman, aged 38. “We have five children already so it’s a big financial responsibility. But we are a family and will pull together and get through. She’s my daughter. I love her and she will want for nothing.”

Alfie’s father, Dennis, takes on a more pragmatic approach, explaining that although he knows his son is not yet fully aware of the gravity of the circumstances, he is determined to be a responsible father. “He could have shrugged his shoulders and sat at home on his Playstation. But he has been at the hospital every day.”

Chantelle lives at home with her parents. Her mother, Penny, her unemployed father, Steve, and her five brothers all share a home in Eastbourne, but despite the fact that their large family lives on benefits, Chantelle remains positive about her future. “I have started a church course and I am going to do work experience helping other young mums. I’ll be a great mum and Alfie will be a great dad.”

Alfie lives with his mother across town on their estate, but is a frequent visitor to the Steadman household. He spends some nights there, and even keeps an extra school uniform there so he may go right to his classes every morning. Still, Alfie’s father is taking no chances with his son’s future.

“When I spoke to him 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,” explains Dennis. “I will talk to him again and it will be the birds and the bees talk. Some may say it’s too late but he needs to understand so there is not another baby.”

Despite all of this, Dennis still insists that Alfie is a normal thirteen-year-old boy. He enjoys videogames and boxing…and, like most his age wouldn’t, doesn’t really know what the responsibilities of being a father entails. He remains dependant on his parents to help him make sense of what his life has become, and confesses that he doesn’t know much about the money required for the caring of a child. “I didn’t think about how we would afford it,” admitted the young boy. “I don’t really get pocket money. My dad sometimes gives me £10.”

Michaela Aston, spokesperson for the anti-abortion Christian charity LIFE, commended the teenagers and, “their courage for bringing their child into the world. At the same time,” she added, “this is symptomatic of the over-sexualisation of our youngsters and shows the policy of value-free sex education just isn’t working.”

After all of this, Alfie is not Britain’s youngest-known father. That title instead goes to Sean Stewart, who became a father at age twelve when his fifteen-year-old neighbor, Emma Webster, gave birth to their child in 1998.

Source.