Pregnant at 10 and abortion's not an option

 

Earlier this year, a 10-year-old girl in Paraguay made headlines when she arrived at a hospital 20 weeks pregnant. But this was not a one-off case. Last year, more than 700 girls aged 14 and younger gave birth in this South American nation of seven million people.

At the Casa Rosa Maria in Paraguay's capital, Asuncion, the kitchen is full of chattering girls preparing food to celebrate the 13th birthday of a new resident - a girl who is five months pregnant. Nine of them live at this spacious mother-and-baby home run by the local Catholic Church. It's a joyful place that echoes with the sound of teenage laughter, scampering toddlers and gurgling babies.
In the kitchen in a stripy jumper and jeans, rocking her hefty-looking one-year-old son on a hip that's hardly there, is Perla. She is 12. Perla was raped by her brother when she was 10, and became a mother at 11.
Perla's one of 200 girls who have passed through the doors of the Casa Rosa Maria, some as young as nine.
"When they are so young and they are plucked from ordinary family life and brought here, it can be very hard for them," says Cilsa Vera, who is in charge. "But we give them good health care, clothing and food, and they adapt very quickly."
That was certainly the case with Mercedes. Now 17, she became pregnant at 12 after being raped by her stepfather. Arriving at the Casa Rosa Maria was a huge relief.
"When I lived in the country at home, my life was terrible," she says. "Everything was so much better when I got here to Asuncion. Now I want to study cookery, finish my schooling and go to university. I want the best for my daughter, and I never want her to experience what I went through."

At the Casa Rosa Maria all the girls are encouraged to study so they can get a job to support their children.
According to Paraguay's Ministry of Health, 704 girls aged 14 and younger gave birth last year - about two each day. But the real figure could be higher - data collection is unreliable, especially in far-flung communities, some of them many hours by road from Asuncion, the capital.
"The numbers are increasing year on year, so this is a problem that's getting worse," says Mirtha Rivarola from the UNFPA, the UN's Population Fund. "It's an alarming situation. For a 10-year-old who becomes a mother, her life trajectory is going to be limited. We're losing too many precious lives for the future."
In England and Wales, with a population of 57 million, eight times greater than Paraguay's, there were 1,378 conceptions by girls aged 14 and younger in 2013. Abortion is legal in the UK, so the majority of these pregnancies ended in termination. In Paraguay however, abortion is only allowed if a mother's life is deemed to be in danger.