www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2233878.ece

By LUCY HAGAN

Published: 13 Feb 2009
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BOY dad Alfie Patten yesterday admitted he does not know how much nappies cost — but said: “I think it’s a lot.”

Baby-faced Alfie, who is 13 but looks more like eight, became a father four days ago when his girlfriend Chantelle Steadman gave birth to 7lb 3oz Maisie Roxanne.

He told how he and Chantelle, 15, decided against an abortion after discovering she was pregnant.

The shy lad, whose voice has not yet broken, 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.”

Lee Thompson

Alfie, who is just 4ft tall, added: “When my mum found out, I thought I was going to get in trouble. We wanted to have the baby but were worried 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.”

Alfie's story, broken exclusively by The Sun today has sparked a huge political storm with Tory leader David Cameron saying: "When I saw these pictures this morning, I just thought how worrying that in Britain today children are having children.

"I hope that somehow these children grow up into responsible parents but the truth is parenthood is just not something they should be thinking about right now."
Secret

PM Gordon Brown refused to comment directly on the story but said it was important that the Government did all it could to prevent teenage pregnancies.

Alfie’s dad Dennis yesterday told how the lad does not really understand the enormity of his situation — but seemed desperate to be a devoted and responsible father.

He wanted to be the first to hold Maisie after the hospital birth. He tenderly kisses the baby and gives her a bottle.

And Dennis, 45, said: “He could have shrugged his shoulders and sat at home on his Playstation. But he has been at the hospital every day.”

Maisie was conceived after Chantelle and Alfie — just 12 at the time — had a single night of unprotected sex.

They found out about the baby when Chantelle was 12 weeks pregnant.

But they kept it a secret until six weeks later when Chantelle’s mum Penny, 38, became suspicious about her weight gain and confronted her.

Lee Thompson

After that Alfie’s family told only those closest to them for fear he would be “demonised” at school.

Chantelle gave birth to Maisie on Monday night after a five-hour labour at Eastbourne Hospital, East Sussex.

Last night she told The Sun: “I’m tired after the birth. I was nervous after going into labour but otherwise I was quite excited.”

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Chantelle told how she discovered she was expecting after going to her GP with “really bad” stomach pains. She said: “Me and Alfie went. 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.

“He said I should tell my mum but I was too scared.

“We didn’t think we would need help from our parents. You don’t really think about that when you find out you are pregnant. You just think your parents will kill you.”

But Penny figured out what was going on after buying Chantelle a T-shirt which revealed her swelling tum.

Chantelle admitted she and Alfie — who are both being supported by their parents — would be accused of being grossly irresponsible. She said: “We know we made a mistake but I wouldn’t change it now. We will be good loving parents.

“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.”

Lee Thompson

Chantelle and Maisie were released from hospital yesterday. They are living with Penny, Chantelle’s jobless dad Steve, 43, and her five brothers in a rented council house in Eastbourne. The family live on benefits. Alfie, who lives on an estate across town with mum Nicola, 43, spends most of his time at the Steadmans’ house.

He is allowed to stay overnight and even has a school uniform there so he can go straight to his classes in the morning.

Alfie’s dad, who is separated from Nicola, believes the lad is scared deep down.

He said: “Everyone is telling him things and it’s going round in his head. It hasn’t really dawned on him. He hasn’t got a clue of what the baby means and can’t explain how he feels. All he knows is mum and dad will help.

“When you mention money his eyes look away. And she is reliant on her mum and dad. It’s crazy. They have no idea what lies ahead.”

Dennis, who works for a vehicle recovery firm, described Alfie as “a typical 13-year-old boy”.

He said: “He loves computer games, boxing and Manchester United.” Dennis, who has fathered nine kids, told how he was “gobsmacked” when he discovered Alfie was to be a dad, too.

He said: “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.

“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.”
Lovely

Chantelle’s mum said: “I told her it was lovely to have the baby but I wish it was in different circumstances. 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.”

Last night Michaela Aston, of the anti-abortion Christian charity LIFE, said: “We commend these teenagers for their courage in bringing their child into the world.

“At the same time this is symptomatic of the over-sexualisation of our youngsters and shows the policy of value-free sex education just isn’t working.”

Today Sussex Police and the local council's children services said they have investigated the case and pledged continued support for the young parents.

Britain’s youngest known father is Sean Stewart. He became a dad at 12 when the girl next door, 15-year-old Emma Webster, gave birth in Sharnbrook, Bedford, in 1998. They split six months later.

This is why I have always and will always feel that kids are dumbasses.

Originally posted by Mystik86

This is why I have always and will always feel that kids are dumbasses.

Yet, teenagers think they know everything.

I know I thought the same thing at that age.  Now I look at kids acting like I acted and just want to slap them senseless. 
Oh, wait.  They already are.  

 

The only difference was that when I was that age my parents were there to slap me.  Nowadays, where are the parents?  I know they're not too busy teaching they're kids anything.  And they're kids don't care to learn anything when they do try to teach it to them.  They think reality is what's on television.

Well they ruined their lives, but it really hearkens back to the days of cavemen when this was quite ordinary.

It just goes to show the futility of human traditions that attempt to separate them from other animals.

Originally posted by //\\//\\oo

Well they ruined their lives, but it really hearkens back to the days of cavemen when this was quite ordinary.

It just goes to show the futility of human traditions that attempt to separate them from other animals.

 

 

Good point.  The reason they conceived a child is because it is the will of God that children be born of people this young.  That's why God made fertility occur at that age.  And now we sit back and say its outragous...  Just think about it.  The average age of child birthing has steadily risen, and right along with it has risen the number of mentally retarded children being born.  Having children after 25 is not what nature intended.  Having children as a young teenager is exactly as nature intended. 

@ Gnomexxx: Where are the parents?  Clocking into a pair of slave labor jobs each to pay the unbearable cost of living in our modern world.  That's where they were most certainly; trying to survive.

That kid looks like he's not even ten years old.

Tragicly irresponsible on all fronts.

That is just ScArY...

Originally posted by gnomexxx

Originally posted by Mystik86

This is why I have always and will always feel that kids are dumbasses.

Yet, teenagers think they know everything.

I know I thought the same thing at that age.  Now I look at kids acting like I acted and just want to slap them senseless. 
Oh, wait.  They already are.  

 

The only difference was that when I was that age my parents were there to slap me.  Nowadays, where are the parents?  I know they're not too busy teaching they're kids anything.  And they're kids don't care to learn anything when they do try to teach it to them.  They think reality is what's on television.

Man if you don't stop taking words out my mouth I will teleport to your house and choke you, me and 12 ninjas will take turns choking you till your as blue as that girl on Willy Wonka man. Stop taking what I'm gonna say.

The thing that sets me off is not how young he is, but how young he looks.

Yea same here. I actually tried to visualize him on top of that girl and laughed out loud. It's funny, disgusting, irresponsible and interesting at the same time. It's funny though because I lost my virginity at 12 but KNEW to use protection. I also looked quite mature (about 16) for that age. Are males looking younger nowadays at that age than say 10 years ago? Is that kid just a runt or is this the norm for post '95 births?

Confusing to say the least. Whether "god" intended this sort of thing or if it's just the way it should be is a question best answered by philosophers and scientists, not us.

While stupid its not by itself going to "ruin their lives"

-the reason we look askance at such today ...and really for the last oh 80  years..is because survivability of children has increased dramatically.Prior to that people had kids at young ages (and often many kids) because both the mom and the kid often would not survive the birth..and the kids often died before age 5.

100 Years ago ..1909....Child Birth was still a risky thing and kids tended to die very young. These risks of course still exist but they are nearly as common as they used to be.

Now we get the opposite extreme..the 60+ year old giving birth. IMO that is much worse then this.

Originally posted by xxvicexx

While stupid its not by itself going to "ruin their lives"

 

 

Eh, it probably does. The fact that he so willingly (at least from what we know) had unprotected sex at age 12 is just compounding the issues demonstrated here. The kid's from a 'bad' family, probably doesn't do too hot in school (though the article says he's going to make an effort to do well, so that's good)... From that alone, it seems like the poor kid's life is basically 'over'. Finish up highschool (grade 10 in the UK), maybe go to college, but definitely not university...

This is just my opinion, but he'll probably be little better off than his family, and in my book, that's ruining his life...

And that bitch of a girlfriend, how -dare- she sleep with a 12 year old. How. Dare. She.

Cool. Now they both have a shot at being grandparents before they're 30 years old.

Just like back home.....in West Virginia.

Too bad they're not related too...........

i think its their parents fault why they had a baby at an early age.. the parents know  that they have a relationship but they just thought they didnt know sex yet.. and the hell, sex is everywhere! any child would know about that easily nowadays...

Originally posted by Blomi

Originally posted by //\\//\\oo

Well they ruined their lives, but it really hearkens back to the days of cavemen when this was quite ordinary.

It just goes to show the futility of human traditions that attempt to separate them from other animals.

 

 

 

Good point.  The reason they conceived a child is because it is the will of God that children be born of people this young.  That's why God made fertility occur at that age.  And now we sit back and say its outragous...  Just think about it.  The average age of child birthing has steadily risen, and right along with it has risen the number of mentally retarded children being born.  Having children after 25 is not what nature intended.  Having children as a young teenager is exactly as nature intended. 

@ Gnomexxx: Where are the parents?  Clocking into a pair of slave labor jobs each to pay the unbearable cost of living in our modern world.  That's where they were most certainly; trying to survive.

 

Well, in the unmodern world of the earlier decades leading up to now, there was a parent at home to keep an eye on something like this happening.  There was also a greater moral foundation laid down for children so that they knew just because nature might provide them with puberty and the biology to make a child, it still has not provided them with the maturity and mentality to provide and raise that child to be a good person.

This is not what nature intended for us today.  We have progressed as a species to the point where this type of behavior is not good for us.  Nothing good is going to come out of this.

Also, I think you're blowing out of proportion the number of mentally retarded children born today.  If nature did not intend for us to have children after 25, then we wouldn't be able to anymore.  What nature intended for us to do was have a social structure and a mental capacity to hinder this kind of behavior and to hold off until we are mature enough to handle actually caring for a baby. 

Plenty of people have healthy thriving children well into middle age.  Is the chance of a child having problems greater the later in life a couple has a baby?  Yes, but the chance increases just a very very very small bit.  Not enough to justify having kids while people are teenagers or even before 25.

What we need is to quit with the worrying about who has more in our society, get back to the basics of a family, understand that if you want to have children then your career takes a backseat for a while, and raise some kids that can have a good, positive and happy life.

Originally posted by olddaddy

Cool. Now they both have a shot at being grandparents before they're 30 years old.

Just like back home.....in West Virginia.

Too bad they're not related too...........

 

Despite how messed up it would be, I think it'd be kind of cool if that baby had a baby when she was 13, and then that baby had a baby when he/she was 13, and so on until that kid became a great great great great great grandad or something.

Originally posted by Rikimaru_X

Originally posted by gnomexxx

Originally posted by Mystik86

This is why I have always and will always feel that kids are dumbasses.

Yet, teenagers think they know everything.

I know I thought the same thing at that age.  Now I look at kids acting like I acted and just want to slap them senseless. 
Oh, wait.  They already are.  

 

The only difference was that when I was that age my parents were there to slap me.  Nowadays, where are the parents?  I know they're not too busy teaching they're kids anything.  And they're kids don't care to learn anything when they do try to teach it to them.  They think reality is what's on television.

 

Man if you don't stop taking words out my mouth I will teleport to your house and choke you, me and 12 ninjas will take turns choking you till your as blue as that girl on Willy Wonka man. Stop taking what I'm gonna say.

Hehe.

When I was a kid, my mom stayed home with us.  She did not work.  I'm not saying that the female necessarily has to be the one that stays home either.  It could be the dad.  There is nothing wrong with that.  But honestly, someone has to be at home when the kids get there.  Someone has to be there to watch them when they are growing up and catch them when they make mistakes so that they can teach those important lessons at that critical moment.  Someone has to got to be there to show that kid a family is something that is there all the time, not just after the work hours are over and mommy or daddy comes to pick you up from day care where someone is paid to act like they care about you.  And someone has to be there to show a young child that family is THE most important thing to give your life some stability and to build a firm character.

What we have today is kids being left at day care from before the age of 1.  Then they are left there all day long until they are picked up to be brought home, given some dinner, bathed, and then put to bed.  Mom and dad is just someone who opens the door to put me in the squishy thing I sleep in.  Most of the lessons in life are lost at day care.  No one there is going to teach them about morals or guide them to do the right thing by sharing stories about their family and the pride they can have in who they are.

Then when they actually get home, most kids just sit in front of the freakin' television soaking that garbage up.  They consider that reality, see people acting like out of control hysterical animals who can't handle a simple life problem without some kind of hostility or blaming it on someone else.  Then we wonder why kids can't handle something as simple as behaving at school or turning in homework or giving a damn about their future.

Want to see how sick it's become?  Start asking kids around the age of 12, 13, or so what they want to be when they grow up.  Just do it and see what their answers are.  You're going to be very surprised.

The baby looks older than that kid.

Originally posted by gnomexxx

The only difference was that when I was that age my parents were there to slap me.  Nowadays, where are the parents?  I know they're not too busy teaching they're kids anything.  And they're kids don't care to learn anything when they do try to teach it to them.  They think reality is what's on television.

How can you jump to the conclusion that parents don't care?  Not everyone works eight hour days, has off on weekends, lives in a nice neighborhood, and can afford everything for a nice lifestyle.A lot of parents are stuck working a lot of hours to provide for their children and themselves; they can't always be there.

Also, [again] you jump to the conclusion that it is suddenly the parents' fault that the kids do this.  Kids do stuff BECAUSE THEY CHOOSE to do it, not because mommy didn't tell them it was bad. I could easily go out a drink or whatever if I wanted to; I CHOOSE not to, while other kids CHOOSE to do so.  I have friends on both sides of the fence; either way it's their decision. 

Originally posted by Mystik86

Yea same here. I actually tried to visualize him on top of that girl and laughed out loud. It's funny, disgusting, irresponsible and interesting at the same time. It's funny though because I lost my virginity at 12 but KNEW to use protection. I also looked quite mature (about 16) for that age. Are males looking younger nowadays at that age than say 10 years ago? Is that kid just a runt or is this the norm for post '95 births?

Confusing to say the least. Whether "god" intended this sort of thing or if it's just the way it should be is a question best answered by philosophers and scientists, not us.

  So you're saying that none of us can be scientists, or philosophers? 

I think you guys are all missing the point here. That little kid has absolutely no standards.

how would this boy live his life, with such resposibility in his young hands, i dont think he would be having a normal one.

           I worked in the public school system for about 5 years and this is not all that rare really.......While you dont often hear about the boy involved, there were a few girls at a couple schools where I worked that were pregnant.....I met one girl that was 15 and already had 2 kids........Often you dont hear as much because alot of the girls have abortions and it never reaches the point of having the baby........

   Sad thing is that sex is too rampant in our society and the pressures on young kids to have sex is too great.....While they should know better you have to realize that sex is everywhere in their lives (movies, TV, internet, music videos, etc etc)........ Unfortunately this young man will ahve to grow up fast and give up alot of his childhood to be a father at such a young age.

Originally posted by Finwe

The thing that sets me off is not how young he is, but how young he looks.

ummmm i don't trust the sun,  im a little skeptical about this one particularly after seeing the pictures,

I kind wanna see this one from  reputable news source before itsn 100% in my mind

Originally posted by Bearioo

I think you guys are all missing the point here. That little kid has absolutely no standards.

I think I know what he was going for.

(hint: it's her tits)