11-Year-Old Gives Birth to Baby Girl . . . After Going Into Labor at Her Wedding
Barbara Degarmo, New York Daily News, November 3, 2009
An 11-year-old girl became one of the world’s youngest mothers–after she went into labor at her wedding.
Kordeza Zhelyazkova, from Sliven, Bulgaria, was still wearing her wedding dress and tiara when she was rushed to the hospital, where she gave birth to a 5-pound, 8-ounce girl.
“I’m not going to play with toys anymore–I have a new toy now,” Kordeza told reporters as she showed off little Violeta.
Kordeza–who got pregnant two weeks after her 11th birthday–told the News of the World: “It feels strange . . . now I must grow up. I am not going back to school.”
The baby’s 19-year-old dad, Jeliazko, met Kordeza when he rescued her from bullies in the playground.
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But within a week, Kordeza was pregnant–and Jeliazko was facing six years in jail for having sex with a minor. The age of consent in Bulgaria is 14.
“I thought she was 15,” he said. “She didn’t tell me she was 11. I was really scared.”
“I didn’t want to say in case he wouldn’t fancy me,” Kordeza confessed.
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“It’s normal for our girls to have babies young,” said Kordeza’s grandmother Dida, 55. “It’s our tradition. But I didn’t want it for my Kordeza–I felt she was too young.”
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Violeta’s grandmothers will be her guardians, and Kordeza and her daughter will receive about $115 a month in state benefits.