UK News 26-05-2005 Sisters Pregnant at 12, 14 & 16 who: Schoolgirls Jemma, Jade and Natasha Williams what: All had babies within space of 11 months where: DERBY when: Last year snippet: "Three sisters have each had children while still at school, the youngest at the age of 12," says The Telegraph. "Jemma, Jade and Natasha Williams, who receive benefits totalling more than £31,000 a year, are raising their babies alone after they became pregnant within three months of each other." "Jemma was first to give birth," says the BBC, "to T-Jay in February last year, and weeks later Jade and Natasha discovered they were pregnant. Natasha had daughter Amani in November and Jade followed with Lita in December". The younger sisters still attend Bemrose Community School and their twice-divorced mother, Julie Atkins, says "they`re all good mothers who love their children. I won`t turn my back on them. I`m proud of them". "People are saying I`m a bad mum for letting this happen but I blame the schools - sex education for young girls should be better," says Julie, quoted in The Sun. "I do feel responsible, because they`re my children. But I do think sex education should be started earlier." She has admitted "she gave her blessing to her youngest daughter having sex when she was just 11," says David Wilkes of The Daily Mail, who furthermore reports that Martin Dodd, the father of Jemma, 14, and Jade, 15, has been banned from seeing them by their mum. "The first time I knew I was a grandfather was this morning when a friend phoned me and told me to read the paper," said the 42-year-old from Cosham, near Portsmouth, quoted in Tuesday`s Mail. "I just couldn`t believe my eyes - I was totally shocked. Jade and Jemma have their whole lives ahead of them and now they have thrown it all away." "We`re not scroungers," says Julie, who lives rent-free with her girls in a three-bedroomed semi in Derby, says The Mirror. "Julie gets £250 a week in state handouts, while Natasha pockets £120 a week. Each baby has free nursery care." The police say they have not ruled out a criminal prosecution for statutory rape of the underage mums, although they clearly have not leapt into action and commented that they had not received a complaint. In a further twist, there is some controversy over the paternity of one of the babies. White 17 year-old Ben Flitton is said to have turned his back on daughter Lita, saying the baby`s skin is too dark to be his. "You`ve only to take one look at Lita now to know it`s impossible," says Ben`s 38 year-old father, quoted in The Sun. "She is clearly different to my son." "Despite a huge government campaign, and a goal of halving the rate of conception among under-18s by 2010, the UK has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in western Europe, standing at 42.8 conceptions for every 1,000 girls under 18 in 2003," says The Guardian. The new children and families minister Beverley Hughes tells social affairs correspondent Lucy Ward that the Williams sisters` case is "a tragic loss of opportunity". [... more]

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