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Romanians Baffled by Outrage Over 10-Year-Old Giving Birth
Tween mothers not uncommon?
The mother of a 10-year-old girl who gave birth in Spain last week says she’s baffled by the international attention her daughter is getting. The woman, identified only as Olimpia, told Spanish newspapers that Roma (known derogatorily as “gypsies”) marry young and that news of such a young mother is, back in Romania, not such a big deal.
She may be right.
The Associated Press reports that while Romanian newspapers are carrying stories of the birth, the stories are buried deep in the paper and focus mainly on the uproar in Spain and around the world.
Olimpia told reporters gathered outside her latest home in Lebrija, Spain, that arranged marriages are common in the Roma culture, especially among the Roma in Romania, where the mother and girl are from. “That’s the way we get married,” she said.
The AP explains that in Roma culture, girls who have reached puberty are often matched with older males in arrangements that function as marriage, but aren’t recognized in Romania, where girls must be 16 and have a parent’s consent to get legally married.
But it would appear this system the mother is defending doesn’t work so well. The baby’s father, a 13-year-old boy, is still in Romania, a father but not a husband. His would-have-been mother-in-law explains that, well, things didn’t work out between him and her daughter and they’re no longer “going out.”
Spanish welfare authorities are currently determining whether the family will be able to provide for the baby, a healthy newborn girl. They likely won’t be able to press charges against the baby’s father for abuse since he’s not in the country and is also a minor. Consensual sex with someone younger than 13 is against the law in Spain.
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4 Comments
Michele commented on Nov 03 10 at 3:47 pmThis article is majorly flawed in the regard that it makes it seem as if Roma and Romanian are synonymous, and they’re not. Roma culture has it’s roots in south Asia and is widespread throughout all of Europe, particularly Eastern and Central Europe. There are of course many Roma living in Romania, but they are not one and the same.
Madeline Holler commented on Nov 03 10 at 3:55 pmSorry, Michele. They are two distinct entities in my mind, the country of Romania and the Roma people (cringe: gypsies). I’m not conflating the two. The AP story, though, says that it in Romania (and not just among the Roma who are living in Romania) everyone’s sort of blase about the whole thing. I’ll see if I can tweak to make sure no one is confused. Thanks.
Corina commented on Nov 03 10 at 11:23 pmAs a Romanian, I am very disappointed to read this article in Babble. I expected a little more insight from the writers here. I find it ridiculous that you think you understand an entire country’s reaction to some news story because the mother of a 10 year old who just gave birth said she thought “noone would be surprised”. The other piece of “evidence” for the claim that Romanians are blase about this is the fact that the headline for this story was not found on page 1 of newspapers? Have you considered that maybe Romanian newspapers have better things to cover on the first page of newspapers, like maybe “real news”? Would the NY Times publish a story like this on their first page? And if they don’t, would you say “Americans are blase about a 10 year old giving birth”?
Just so you know, Romanian girls are not expected to have kids at 10, neither are they allowed to marry at that age.
Andrea commented on Nov 04 10 at 12:36 amComments
The title should read “Roma Baffled by…” That would be correct, and solve your problem of seeming to conflate the two entities. Romania has been intolerant of these practices historically, but has been pressured by the EU to be sensitive to Roma cultural practices. The EU alternates between being disturbed by human rights violations such cultural practices involve, and a desire to tolerate differences.
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