Teen pregnancy copycat worry
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Fears have been raised that teen pregnancies will increase as a result of reporting of a case in which a 13-year-old became a father.
Alfie Patten made headlines when it was claimed he fathered a child withhis 15-year-old girlfriend. Speaking at a conference organised by theAssociation for Young People's Health last week, Dr Ann McPherson,medical director at research group Dipex, said the coverage could leadto repeat situations. "He got his five minutes and others will wantthat," she said.
McPherson's comments come on the back of figures showing the first risein conception rates among under-16s since 2002.
Laura Gorman, 17, a member of the UK Youth Parliament, said: "A minoritymay think they could get famous by doing this but the majority of theseare the ones who would have got pregnant anyway."
