Baby-Faced Dad Is Just 13

Will take DNA test to disprove two other teens' claims

(NEWSER) - Four-foot-tall teen dad Alfie Patten will take a DNA test to prove he really is the father of girlfriend Chantelle Steadman’s daughter Maisie, the Mail reports. Photos of the baby-faced 13-year-old caused an uproar last week, and two other teens came forward to claim they also slept with Chantelle. Patten’s father wants the DNA test, saying, “I thought a boy of his age wasn’t capable of conceiving.” More»

(NEWSER) - Families appear to be putting off that baby until economic conditions improve, the New York Times reports. The birth rate fell 2% in 2008 compared to 2007, and the trend looks to be continuing into 2009. “It’s the recession," a sociologist says. "Children are the most expensive item in every family’s budget, so it’s a good place to cut back when you’re uncertain about the future.” More»

(NEWSER) - A British National Health Service trust posted a controversial staged video on YouTube showing a teenager giving birth amid a pack of yelling high schoolers as a way to scare girls about pregnancy, reports the Daily Mail. The video shows a teen, played by an actress, giving birth on a sports field with the help of a friend whose face is smeared with blood. More»

Swab results sink claims about UK tabloid sensation

(NEWSER) - The British 13-year-old who became a tabloid sensation because he fathered a child with his teenage girlfriend isn't the dad after all, reports the Mirror, via the Mommy Files blog of the San Francisco Chronicle. A DNA test shows that Alfie Patten is not the UK's youngest father. The boy's mom said he had been "devastated" to learn that he wasn't his 15-year-old girlfriend's one and only. More»

They need guidance, sure, but who cares if they go on the dole?

(NEWSER) - Don’t be so sure 13-year-old Alfie Patten and 15-year-old Chantelle Steadman will be bad parents for their newborn, Sarah Sands writes in the Independent. Sure, the young father “loves computer games and Manchester United,” but that “does not actually set Alfie apart from the adult male population.” The kids will have parental and state support, and what “this dazed-looking father needs is some direction and guidance.” More»