The Stories Behind 7 of the World’s Youngest Fathers and Where They Are Now

Trigger: Some of these stories contain details of child sexual abuse

Most 12-year-old boys are busy riding their bikes around the neighbourhood, killing zombies on Playstation and ignoring their mothers’ requests to put their socks in the laundry basket.

Most 12-year-old boys are not preparing for fatherhood. But some have had to do just this. Babies having babies is something that we see in the news often and it’s sad to see, really.

Meet the World’s Youngest Fathers

Below we share a few of the stories of the world’s youngest fathers – these boys became fathers before they even hit teenagehood.

1. 12-year-old Sean Stewart

Location: United Kingdom

Sean Stewart was just 11 when he impregnated his 15-year-old next-door neighbour, Emma Webster. This happened back in 1998 and you probably remember the headlines.

Their son, Ben Louis, was born just one month after Sean’s 12th birthday. Media outlets shared the story of how Romeo Sean would clamber across the roof to meet his Juliet at night.

At the start, Sean, Emma and Ben remained a tight-knit family. Sean recalled how he would go to school and Emma and Ben would wait for him to come back on the bus every afternoon.

However, since then, Sean and Emma have parted ways. According to reports, Sean has landed in trouble with the law, and Emma has remarried. She has custody of Ben.

2. 12-year old father (name withheld)

Location: New Zealand

Although we don’t know the name of the young father, we do know he is from Auckland, New Zealand and that the mother is a 36-year-old woman, reportedly the mother of the boy’s school friend.

This allegedly occurred in 2014. According to sources, one afternoon, the young boy and his friend went to his friend’s house in between classes. The mother was there and served them alcohol and repeatedly forced him to have intercourse with her. This went on for months until the mother fell pregnant.

3. 13-year-old Alfie Patten*

Location: United Kingdom

Alfie Patten and his girlfriend, Chantelle Steadman, 15, made headlines back in 2009 when his baby-face appeared all over news outlets holding his newborn daughter, Maisie Roxanne.

Alfie clearly wasn’t ready for fatherhood but he still very much wanted to be a dad so when it was revealed that he was not the father of Maisie, he was heartbroken. The real father turned out to be another schoolboy named Tyler Barker, 14.

Alfie told media outlets that he was devastated and spent days crying in his room. Chantelle and Maisie moved away shortly after so he hasn’t seen Maisie since.

These days Alfie is having trouble with the law after recently being booted out of his home for alleged drug dealing. He has also battled alcoholism and has been charged for shoplifting, theft and possession of an imitation fireman.

* Later confirmed not the biological father.

4. 12-year-old James Sutton

Location: United Kingdom

James Sutton was just 12 years old when he discovered he was going to be a father – of twins! He and his 16-year-old girlfriend, Sarah Drinkwater, welcomed twin girls – Leah and Louise and have also had another girl, Ellie, since then.

These days, James and Sarah are reportedly still together and doing really well. They’ve bought a home, worked hard and are raising their girls together.

5. 12-Year-Old Chris McBride

Location: United States

Chris McBride became a father at 12 years old after being raped by his 22-year-old nanny, Marissa Mowry. The abuse started when the young boy was only 11 years old and the live-in nanny was hired to care for Chris.

According to reports, Marissa groomed the young boy for several months and told him he couldn’t tell anyone about their ‘games’. When she had the baby, a boy named Bentley, she lied about who the father was to everyone but Chris. She told Chris he couldn’t tell anyone the truth.

A scared Chris eventually told his mother and DNA confirmed the truth. Marissa was sentenced to 20 years in prison and Chris and his mother received custody of his son and Bentley is a happy, healthy little boy who adores his dad.

6. 13-year-old Dillian Whyte

Location: United Kingdom

Dillian Whyte is a pretty big name in the boxing world these days but also became a father for the first time at 13 years old.

As The Sun UK reports, Dillian grew up in Jamaica before moving to England to live with his mum, who had left him in Jamaica as a toddler. While there aren’t many details surrounding the mother or Dillian’s child, he has mentioned that he needed to grow up very quickly.

Dillian spent his teen years in and out of trouble but turned things around when he was 20 and started boxing. He is now a professional boxer nicknamed The Body Snatcher and has since had two more children.

7. 13-year-old unidentified boy

Location: United Kingdom

We don’t know his name, but we know the mother’s name: Leah Cordice. She was 17 at the time and was the young boy’s babysitter. During 2017 and 2018, the courts heard how Leah would bribe the boy with treats and Fish n Chips to keep their trysts a secret.

At the time of the baby’s birth, Leah was married. Her now ex-husband thought the baby was his. However, it was later revealed through a DNA test that the baby girl was the 13-year-old boy’s child.

Leah is now jailed, and the 13-year-old boy does not have contact with his daughter, something that he is fighting to change.

The boy told the court: “I cannot see my child and have not had any involvement with her recently. Seeing my daughter and then having her taken out of my life was very hard to cope with. It feels like I was punished for what I have been through. I hope in the future I can move on from this and have a relationship with my daughter.”

World’s youngest fathers on record

Several other young dads have reportedly fathered children before they turned 14. However, in most cases, their names or the details behind the births are not public.

• The youngest father in the world is reportedly a boy from China, who, at 9 fathered a child with an 8-year-old girl. This occurred in 1910.
• There is also a 10-year-old father recorded in the USA, no details about the mother. This happened in 2001.
• There are two recorded 11-year-old fathers. One from the USA and one from Mexico.

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