The Sun's video interview with the young parents

A child who has become one of Britain’s youngest fathers has reignited concerns about the rate of teenage pregnancies and the sexualisation of children at increasingly early ages.

Alfie Patten was only 12 when his girlfriend, Chantelle Steadman, 15, conceived after unprotected sex. In the past decade, more than 40 other boys aged under 14 have fathered children. Figures from the Office for National Statistics also show that four boys aged 11 have had children in recent years.

Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Western Europe. A total of 385 girls under the age of 14 became pregnant between 1998 and 2007.

Politicians, family charities and parenting specialists voiced their concerns yesterday. Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative Party leader who runs the Centre for Social Justice think-tank, said that the latest case illustrated the country’s social decline. Gordon Brown, during a visit to the Midlands, said that he was not aware of the details but added: “Of course I think all of us would want to avoid teenage pregnancies.”

David Cameron, the Tory leader, said that children having children was worrying and that parenthood should not be something they should even be contemplating.

Police stated that they would not be looking into the case.

Alfie, who is 4ft tall and looks considerably younger than his age, was at his girlfriend’s bedside as she gave birth to Maisie Roxanne, weighing 7lb 3oz, in Eastbourne on Monday.

Doctors expressed surprise yesterday that Alfie, whose voice has not yet broken, was biologically capable of fathering a child nine months ago. Martin Ward Platt, a consultant paediatrician at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle upon Tyne, said that biologically unusual things could happen. “There is not a direct correlation between various different signs and stages of puberty. It is possible but it is not a common occurrence.”

In an interview with The Sun, Alfie said: “I thought it would be good to have a baby. I didn’t think about how we would afford it. I don’t really get pocket money. My dad sometimes gives me £10. When my mum found out I thought I was going to get in trouble. We wanted to have the baby but were worried about how people would react. I didn’t know what it would be like to be a dad. I will be good, though, and care for it.”

Chantelle said: “I’m tired after the birth. I was nervous after going into labour but otherwise I was quite excited.”

Chantelle and Alfie found out that she was pregnant at 12 weeks. They went to see a doctor together. Chantelle said: “The doctor asked me whether we had sex. I said yes and he said I should do a pregnancy test. He did the test and said I was pregnant. I started crying and didn’t know what to do.”

They hid the pregnancy from their parents for a further six weeks until Chantelle’s mother, Penny, 38, became suspicious when her daughter started gaining weight, and confronted her about it.

Chantelle said that Alfie had regularly stayed the night. “We know we made a mistake but I wouldn’t change it now. We will be good, loving parents,” she said.

She left hospital to return to her family’s council house in Eastbourne on Thursday, and was being concealed from the media. Friends and relatives of Alfie left their detached home in Hailsham, East Sussex, without comment.

Mr Duncan Smith said that the case exemplified the point that Tories had been making about “broken Britain”. He said: “Too many dysfunctional families in Britain today have children growing up where anything goes.” There had been a complete collapse in some parts of society of any sense of what was right and what was wrong, he said.

Ed Balls, the Children’s Secretary, described it as “just an awful case”. He told Sky News: “It’s very rare but you look at that young lad being a dad when he is so young, and also the teenage girl, and you think, ‘It’s not right — this looks so terrible.’ It has got to be sorted out. I want us to do everything we can as a society to make sure we keep teenage pregnancies coming down.”

Nigel Waterson, the Tory MP for Eastbourne, said that the birth raised important questions about sex education and the sexualisation of society.

Tony Kerridge, of the sexual health specialist Marie Stopes International, said that children needed better education to develop aspirations and avoid a life of poverty. “We have got the social aspect of young girls in the UK seeing having a baby as a route to getting their own place,” he said.

He praised government plans to start giving primary school pupils sex and relationship education, saying that similar moves abroad had paid dividends.

However, Norman Wells, the director of the charity Family and Youth Concern, said that young people did not need yet more sex education, but a complete change of focus. “We need to challenge the common perception of sex as a casual recreational activity and present it rather as an expression of the total self-giving of a husband and wife to each other in marriage.”

SEX AND THE LAW

— Britain’s youngest father identified publicly is Sean Stewart. In 1998 he became a father aged 12 when the girl next door, 15-year-old Emma Webster, 15, gave birth in Sharnbrook, Bedford. They split up six months later

— The legal age for heterosexual or homosexual sex in England, Wales and Scotland is 16. In Northern Ireland teenagers must be 17 before they can have intercourse legally

— If two under-age teenagers have sex it is illegal but the law is not widely enforced and usually the Crown stops proceedings on the grounds of public interest

— If parents are aware of their under-age children having sex, they could theoretically risk prosecution for aiding and abetting unlawful intercourse

— Girls can lawfully have sex at 16 but there are extra rules applying to those under 13. Sex with a girl below the age of13 is punishable under a “statutory rape” charge with a maximum sentence of life because girls of that age are not deemed mature enough to consent

Source: Times archives

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