The truth about gymslip mothers

[...] A baby-faced tomboy in a tracksuit, Sarah was sexually active at 12 and pregnant with Cody at 13. Was that right, I ask? ”I don't care!” she shoots back. ”I don't care what people say or think.” Did anyone criticise her?

”A couple of people. No-one in authority.” Why is it such a big deal, she asks, when young girls get pregnant? Because society needs you to work and contribute, I say. People pay for her income support and nursery places with their taxes. ”But I'll pay it back by working later and paying my taxes,” Carly chips in, stung by this rare rebuke.

Later I ask Gill Frances, chair of the Advisory Group of Teenage Pregnancy, if we are now beyond telling girls it is wrong to have sex at 12. She hesitates slightly. ”’Wrong' is maybe not the best way to say it. It's not good for their bodies, or their babies.” Indeed, the babies of young mothers are 60% more likely to die at birth. Read more