Quote:
Originally Posted by Dixie
There is no way a 10 year old child can physically nor mentally take care of an infant. They simply lack not just the maturity, but the skills needed to do so.
I think the state did what was best for both in this situation - removing both from the home and placing into state custody.
HOWEVER there would be one thing I would do differently - allow the 10 year old to be placed in a home with her child, where she would not be the legal gaurdian for reasons already stated - but can 'bond' with her child and learn 'some' parenting skills along the way, but she will never earn full custody of the baby due to their ages and the fact that even at 18 she wouldnt even be financially ready to take on an 8 year old child but would be allowed visits. This would give them both a chance to form a relationship with each other.
Whomever adopted the infant would need to be willing to let the 10 year old be a part of the infants life given the circumstances - the ideal thing would be is to adopt them into one home more as siblings rather then parent-child.
As for abortion, Im not sure you can legally perform abortions on children that young and even then the abortion clinic would still be required to notify the Department of Family Services, simply for the fact that she is so young - the same reason the hospital notified the Department of Family Services.
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Agree with you completely. That would be the ideal situation. However, given the circumstances of the preganancy, the 10 year olds feeling definately should be taken into consideration regarding visitations and contact. It could easily be more traumatic for her to have contact with the child. The abortion, for a child that young, would require parental consent. I would say that chances are good that they did not even realize the child was pregnant until after the time limit for abortion had passed. The poor child probably didn't even recognize the signs of pregnancy, or if she did, was terrified to tell anyone.