^^^sick. That story wasn't really about Bulgarians though.

I know, I was referring to the part of the article where the grandmother said it's normal for their girls (in Bulgaria) to have babies young--she just didn't want that for her granddaughter.

That's what I meant. The grandmother said their girls. They can be anywhere, they aren't real Bulgarians that they're talking about. When she said "our girls" she meant gypsie girls. These aren't Bulgarians, they're just a bunch of gypsies who happen to be in Bulgaria.

Where on earth do you see that?

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...r_wedding.html

It's down at the bottom. Roma is gypsie from the word Rom which is their name for their bloodline. No one has Roma weddings but gypsies, they're in no way Bulgarian.

Page not found.

Either way "our girls" refers to some group or sub-group where having children young is normal which was my point in the first place.

Yeah, and it is for gypsies.

What about the psychological reprecussions of being a child (allegedly) raped by your stepfather and forced to have that child, in addition to the physical hardships of pregnancy and childbirth on a child body?

Those are huge, too. No one but this girl knows which would cause her more psychological pain. Honestly, different people have different breaking points and only she would know which situation would leave her worse off emotionally (and she may not even know till she's older and it's too late). She could look back on this in 10 years--even in 5 years--and be totally devastated at having been forced to have an abortion. She could be racked with feelings of guilt, regret, and helplessness for the rest of her life. Heck, that could happen even if she has one willingly. Or she could have the same feelings over carrying a baby she clearly didn't ask for. She's going to be dealing with the scars of her rape regardless of whatever else happens. That's why I say there is no possible way this can turn out okay for her. For the sake of leaving her with as little "damage" as possible, one could err on the side of caution...but with such a volatile issue, what side is that and who gets to decide?

ETA: On that note, I wonder if anyone's asked the girl what she wants to do. If she voiced a decision, would anyone go with her wish (whatever it was) or just point out that she's 10 and "doesn't understand the consequences?"

The girl doesn't know that. Adults can't predict their mental and emotional well-being so a 10 year old darn sure can't.


As far as I'm concerned, she is below the age of consent for sex and below the age of decision making capacity. Societies can't have it both ways. You can't tell children that they are children and then give them life altering decisions to make where their choices will be the end-all that can't be overridden by the adult decision makers.

The adults should do what they think is the right decision (hopefully, abortion) and get her into counseling until she's 100 years old.

That's kind of out there. It should be her decision alone, in my view, because it is her.

The 10 year old in question will make a better decision than any adult who it isn't happening ever could.

This whole situation is just sad as sad can be. This poor 10 year old shouldn't be having to go through what she is in fact going through. My heart goes out to her.

Angel's Advocate: If you've just admitted that adults couldn't predit their own emotional and mental well-being, they why should they get to override the girl's decision regarding hers? Would your feelings on that change depending on what she chose?

Because a 10 year old doesn't even have the capability of understanding the full consequences of either action. A 10 year old doesn't have the right to make medical decisions for themselves. They don't get to choose whether they get a flu shot. They don't get to choose whether they get a blood test. Their parents are their legal guardians and as such, get to decide everything about their lives, within the law.

Yeah but her one legal guardian raped her and got her pregnant, and the other one took forever to tell anyone about it.