11 Year-Old Girl Gives Birth
It’s hard enough being a teen mom – imagine being just 11 years old. According to Fox News, an 11 year-old girl in the Northeast just gave birth to a baby boy.
“My daughter and baby are fine, and the baby is absolutely beautiful,” said the girl’s mother. Names are not being released in order to protect the girl’s privacy.
Dr. Abdulla Al-Khan, a leading high-risk obstetrician said the body of an 11 year-old is not built to carry a child yet. “Her body is clearly not defined for pregnancy with its short stature,” Al-Khan said. “Her chest is not extensively developed for breast tissue, her bones aren’t quite fused, and once you expose a child this young to high amounts of progesterone and especially estrogen, there is controversy that it could halt her growth.”
Other challenges: the pelvis is not defined for natural childbirth; the vagina could sustain injury during a natural birth; higher risks of pre-eclampsia and pre-term labor (which would mean the baby’s size would be compromised, and the baby is at risk for developmental issues); higher incidence of stillbirth; higher incidence of cholestasis of pregnancy, a condition where the patient starts itching like crazy, which can lead to stillbirth and placenta issues; and a chance of fatty liver developing, which could be fatal.
However, this girl was clearly menstruating and had the ability to become pregnant. I’m surprised Fox News even included this line: “going through with the pregnancy would be a greater risk than having an abortion.” What do you think? Would you let your daughter go through with this?
