Warning: The following contents revolves shocking world facts about the female puberty and might not be suitable for the faint-hearted.
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I was flabbergasted when I read in the news last month that a 9-year-old girl had given birth to a 6-pound baby boy in China.
I mean, HELLO, I had my menarche when I was 12. So in my brain, that implies that girls are not supposed to be fertile before that. Then how in the world do you even get pregnant, much less deliver a real baby when your uterus is the size of a peanut?
Apparently, I am so very wrong.
Five days ago, a 10-year-old Colombian girl arrived at the hospital crying in enormous pain, Which turned out to be her contractions and she subsequently gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
At a time when these girls were supposed to be playing with dolls and chasing after butterflies, they became what I am now - A mother.
It's just so wrong. Well, I'm always very elated and thrilled to hear about babies being born into this world, healthily and safely. But I guess not in cases like these.
Then I decided to dig up some research into this matter and uncovered some shocking facts that I never knew.
1) In Singapore, a 9-year-old girl gave birth after getting impregnated by a fellow student in her school. Her mother had thought she was suffering from an urinary tract infection, but upon taking her to the doctor, learned she was already six months pregnant. The baby was then placed for adoption. Yes, this took place in my homeland!
2) A 6-year-old girl gave birth in India in 1932 by by caesarean section. She had never menstruated, but was able to nurse her child for 9 months. Omg, that probably beats many breastfeeding mums out there.
3) In Nigeria, a girl gave birth at the age of 8. Turned out her daughter also gave birth at an really early age and she then became a grandmother when she was 15. And I thought my grandma was young.
4) In 1834, a 10-year-old girl gave birth in the United States to a baby girl. She allegedly developed breasts within weeks of birth and began menstruating at 12 months What?! So she had to wear a bra by age 1?
5) In India in 1933, an 8-year-old girl died during childbirth, along with her baby. The girl had a husband because her mother, a poor widow, said she had been forced to accept an offer of marriage for her daughter. What do 8-year-olds know about love, much less sex?
6) In 1979, a 10-year-old girl gave birth to twin girls in the United States. Ok, so now we not only have one, but a pair.
7) The second youngest girl to give birth ever was a 6-year-old girl in Soviet Union, back in 1934 after being impregnated by her grandfather. Doctors did not want to perform a ceasarean and so she gave birth naturally but the baby was stillborn. I hate to hear stories of stillborns, no matter what, it was still a life lost.
Now for the world record.
The youngest girl to give birth ever was a 5-year-old girl by the name of Lina Merdina in Peru.
The youngest girl to give birth ever was a 5-year-old girl by the name of Lina Merdina in Peru.
Her parents, who assumed their daughter had a tumour, took her to a hospital, where she was determined to be seven months pregnant. Medina gave birth to a 6-pound son, named Gerardo after the doctor, by caesarean section on May 14, 1939, making her the youngest confirmed mother in medical history.
Gerardo was raised believing that Medina was his sister, but found out at the age of 10 that she was his mother. He grew up healthy but died in 1979 at the age of 40 of a bone marrow disease while Medina is still living today.
It has been said that Medina entered puberty as early as 8 months of age. In the photograph above, which was the only one taken during her pregnancy, you can clearly see her bulging tummy as well as the extent of her physiological development.
(Extracted from wikipedia.org. For the complete list of youngest birth mothers, go here)
Scary?
Unbelievable?
Shocking?
In many of these cases, the identity of the father was not known. Even if it was suspected sexual abuse by the girl's biological father like in Medina's case, he was later released because of lack of evidence. In other cases, culprits could be the grandfather, uncle, cousins, neighbour, domestic servant and fellow student.
I just can't imagine. It might be better to tell her that the child is her little sister/brother, but the fact is everything will come to light one day and then what? Being a mum changes one's life forever, doesn't it? Being a mum comes with so many responsibilities and commitment, and it shouldn't be a burden on the shoulders of a less than 20kg tiny girl who has no means to even fend for herself.
I shudder to think that so many cases happen constantly in the world around us.
It scares me a little to know that small girls today can become big girls tomorrow.
Well, guess it's better to learn about all this instead of being stuck in the mindset that girls only grow up when they are 12. It makes me wiser, I'd like to think.
For those of you with lovely little girls at home like me, it sounds crude but well, let's protect this bubble of theirs called virginity, shall we?
That is incredibly shocking, sick and so unnatural. FIVE years old. I can't believe it. Even in my twenties I was terrified of labor and giving birth. I can't imagine what these children went through and how it effected their psyche.
ReplyDeleteYes it did shock me too but I guess things are different in every country. I would imagine that the older we get, the more we are afraid of pain. I also wonder how it affects their psyche and do hope they can somehow carry on to be happy and carefree kids, not mums.
Delete完全不能相信。。。无法想象~~·
ReplyDelete我也是, 很惊人吧, 世界无奇不有!
DeleteThis is such an interesting post, full of stories I never knew. They are all so young, I was 28 before I had my little boy and that was scary enough!
ReplyDeleteYes I didn't know too till I dug further into it. Yes, I guess we will all remember our labour experiences, but maybe these girls are too young and they won't remember the pain. =)
DeleteThank you so much for sharing this. I was aware of the recent story and maybe 1 or 2 others but I had no idea how prevalent and how recent some of these are. I cannot fathom the idea of my 2 year old already having periods and becoming a mother before highschool. There is no positive, physically or emotionally for the mother to bearing a child at that age, especially as it would be likely that there were repeated acts of abuse that caused the pregnancy. I never thought i was taking my daughters innocence for granted until now.
ReplyDeleteHi Erin, thanks for popping by. Yes I was only aware of a couple and so decided to read more. I agree that there's no benefit from this and it's depressing to hear about cases of child sexual abuse. Don't mean to alarm mums out there but of course it would be good for us to keep an eye out for our girls. =) Take care!
DeleteOh gosh! Really makes you stop and think doesn't it? I too had no idea it was as common as this. Thanks for sharing and opening all our eyes
ReplyDeleteFairy wishes and butterfly kisses from #team IBOT
Hihi Rhianna, thanks for being part of #TeamIBOT! I guess it happens all around the world but the world is so huge and diverse that we don't necessarily notice it. Guess it's always good to be informed. You are most welcome and be in touch again!
DeleteThat is just unbelievable. Those poor children. Its hard to believe it is even physically possible - let alone contemplate the emotional and social impacts.
ReplyDeleteExactly, I first wonder the physically possibility, then I worry about the emotional impact on the child, then I thought about the social impact. It gets just too overwhelming to even think about it.
DeleteI'm just shaking my head! Those poor little girls.. just so sad that their innocence is gone so early in life. I was unaware that the youngest ever recorded was 5! Just speechless...
ReplyDeleteYeah I know, just not sure what to say and whether there's anything we could do. I did read that the youngest was 5 but never read about Medina's story till now. Made me speechless too.
DeleteI am shocked to the core...HOW CRAZY! goes to show anything is possible, maybe not appropriate but possible none the less.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I have come across your blog...you have a new follower in me =D
Rachael xx
Thanks Rachel. Yes, I guess all things are possible in the world, good or bad. Be in touch again!
DeleteI really think these stories are so incredibly sad. Children have such a short time that they are allowed to be children. It saddens me to see that taken away from them so soon. Thank you for this confronting but thought provoking post. x
ReplyDeleteHi Misha, love how you put it, that children have such a short time before they grow up. I guess things are different in different parts of the world but still, they shouldn't need to be a mum at that young age or go through the pain of labour. Thanks for popping by!
Deleteohh my!!! just no words! So scary what is happening to some of these young girls and what has happened. Scary!
ReplyDeleteHihi, didn't mean to scare anyone with this post, just wanted to share my readings and some things that I never did know existed. I guess these things do happen around the world and has been so for the last few centuries. Just hope it doesn't happen to us or anyone we know!
Deleteahh poor babies.. 5 is just unbelievable! Makes me want to shelter my kids so much more!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah it did make me wanna cherish my girl even more too!
DeleteA baby at 5, that's so sad. Those poor girls.
ReplyDelete5 yes, it's really young!
DeleteI looked into stories like these many years ago and did a fair bit of research about Medina's story. Most often these girls are not highly involved in the raising of the children they give birth to. Usually, the family takes the baby away and gives the child a doll - as happened with Medina. We need to keep in mind that 'Childhood' is a relatively modern concept adopted mostly by European cultures (and western cultures which sprung from the British Empire). In other cultures childhood is not considered separate or sacred from adolescence or adulthood (hence, child labour issues around the world). So, marrying off a 9 year old child would not be considered as offensive as it is to our sensibilities.
ReplyDeletePuberty can happen at any age, really, but of course, for most boys and girls it happens from 10 years old and up.
I'm not a big fan of vilifying boys and men (I have boys, four of them), and baulk at suggestions that we should protect little girls from predatory men. The vast majority of men are not predators. It instills fear and a sense of victimhood in girls when their parents are wary around boys or men. Instead, I'd prefer to see girls taught to value themselves beyond how 'attractive' they are. If all we teach girls is worry about being attractive, we confuse them when we warn them to wary of those people who are attracted to them. "You have to be pretty and nice so people will like you, but be afraid of any male you likes you because probably wants to hurt you." We can do better than that for our girls.
Hi Sif Dal, thanks for popping by and for leaving that thought provoking comment. Yes I do agree that childhood is defined differently in different countries and some kids skipped it totally and go to work at a very young age. Still, giving birth to a child, then having it replaced with a doll, it doesn't sound like the best thing to happen especially if the girl was impregnated by someone in the family.
DeleteAs for men, most of the men in the world are good and without men, we won't even have babies! So it's not right to categorize men as predatory, but yet at the same time predatory men exist. Big difference. Just like how the world has police and thieves, there will always be a small handful of molesters out there and it is against those that we worry about for our girls. I will want my girl to be nice so people like her, but caution her against people who try to touch or take physical advantage of her. I guess with a little girl at home, we just feel more obliged to protect her and keep her safe at the same time we wish for her to be able to explore the world out there. Sounds ironic and I just hope to learn and get better along the way. =)
Speechless ...
ReplyDeleteI had a friend who started menstruating at age 9, I thought THAT was early. Sadly we are now in our 40s and she has never had a baby. Imagine going through that all these years yet never getting to hold your own bubba in your arms. :-(
Hihi, I guess 9 is still earlier than most of us but to menstruate at 1, can you believe it? So sad to hear she never had her own baby though and hope she is still leading a happy life.
DeleteI am horrified but not surprised it is still happening in developed countries as well as those not exposed to Western influences today. The thought of even my 13 yr old getting pregnant scares me and she knows her self worth is more than her beautiful outside self. But as I have found out personally, many cultures still treat girls younger than 12 as something to be traded and used and abused and it is they that need to be protected - worldwide - from predatory men, whether they are in arranged marriages or in war torn situations or an incestious home.
ReplyDeleteHi Becci, thanks for popping by. Yes it happens around the world, sadly. Oh, I guess all mums with girls worry about them getting pregnant somehow, I will be too! Different cultures define childhood differently and value babies in a different manner. Yes, it is still depressing to learn about children as trade items because we see ours as such precious assets. It also saddens me to read about children suffering from child abuse or sexual abuse and I all the more wanna give my girl a happy, safe home and a carefree growing up process - definitely won't want her to become a mum.
DeleteThis is simply shocking. My girls are 4 and 3. My four year old will be five in August, these stories terrify me. How can childhood disappear so quickly?
ReplyDeleteHi Becky, sure didn't mean to terrify you. Like a reader mentioned above, childhood probably differs in different cultures and while I can't imagine it either, truth is it does happen around the world. Not just one isolate case, but several. Nonetheless, I'm sure your girls will have a happy childhood ahead! =)
DeleteI suppose that's why it's never too early to talk to your child about sexuality education!
ReplyDeleteYes! My 2yo has already started asking about birds and bras! =) Part of sex education is in the hope of protecting and keeping them safe, right? =)
DeleteOh my! That last photo literally took my breath away. How very, very sad! :'(
ReplyDeleteHi San, thanks for stopping by. Oh yeah, I was depressed and shocked to learn about it too and hopefully as we move into modern times, such happenings would reduce.
DeleteWow, what a shocking and sickening post, but I highly commend you for sharing. I have heard about some of these poor girls, including Medina, and the thoughts that go through my head when I read about them always goes back to - what was that man THINKING????!!!!! Where was her mother???!!!!! It's so sad to have a baby when you are still a baby yourself...I cannot imagine.
ReplyDeleteBut, this makes me determined to protect my own daughter all the more!
Hey Jessica, yeah I didn't realise this post was such a shocker to many but it's great if it makes all the mums in the world wanna protect their girls a little more. Better be safe than sorry, I guess. But not to worry, the world is still full of beautiful stories and good men! =)
DeleteSummer, my hair is just standing as I read this. After giving birth to my second daughter, I spent nights lying in bed, just worrying about all the dangers the world held for my girls. I wish we could just hold them and protect them from everything, forever
ReplyDelete