Girl,10, who gave birth, lived with partner in Romania

LONDON - The 10-year-old Romanian girl, who gave birth to a child fathered by her 13-year-old cousin last week, was allowed to live with the teenager as husband and wife, it was reported here Sunday.

Elena Chiritescu became one of the world’s youngest mothers when she gave birth naturally to 6lb 6oz baby Nicoleta. The baby’s father is her cousin Gheorghe Mecic. The pair split after Elena went to Spain along with her mother before the baby’s birth.

According to the Daily Mail, their mothers allowed them to live as “husband and wife” after the girl became pregnant aged nine.

Elena and Gheorghe were raised as siblings by their grandmother in the Romanian capital of Bucharest after their mothers went to Spain in search of work.

According to neighbours at her former home in District 5, the poorest part of Bucharest, Elena’s father Valeriu died when she was five.

“The family had a lot of debts so the mother, Olimpia, had to sell everything,” said one who lived nearby. “She went to work in Spain picking strawberries a couple of years ago and left Elena with her grandmother.”

“She would come back from time to time but always returned to Spain for work. Last year Olimpia’s sister went to Spain as well for work and left Gheorghe with his grandmother.”

The abandoned children found solace in each other’s company. It was not clear when their relationship became sexual.

Relatives say their grandmother, Petra Tiberie, knew nothing of their relationship, although the baby was conceived in her tiny house.

When the pregnancy came to light after Elena could no longer hide the physical signs, Olimpia was eager for the pair to stay together.

“She let them live together as husband and wife,” the relative said.

“Elena was Gheorghe’s first girlfriend and the same for her. The youngsters seemed to love each other and planned to bring the baby up together. But I don’t think either of them knows how to change a nappy.”

With Elena’s due date nearing, her mother took her to Spain and it was there that Nicoleta Narcisa Chiritescu was born in a hospital Oct 26. Gheorghe stayed in Romania.

Mother and baby are now with relatives in a three-storey block in the nearby town of Lebrija, where Olimpia said they were all “ecstatic” and tried to play down the scandal.

“These things are normal in our country,” Olimpia said. “Girls get married at ten so we don’t understand why people are so surprised. Elena is feeling very well, just like her daughter, who’s also doing very well and is very pretty.”

“Elena and Nicoleta will stay in Spain because her relationship with the baby’s father has ended. Elena is very happy with her child. We have a house, we have everything we need.”

Spanish authorities are considering whether Nicoleta should be taken into care and Saturday social workers inspected conditions at their flat.

Romanian law allows girls to get married at 18, or 16 with parental consent. But arranged “marriages” between those as young as ten are common among Roma families, who make up 1.5 million of the country’s 22 million population.

Britain’s youngest mother, Tressa Middleton, from West Lothian, gave birth at 12 in 2006. The youngest in the world was Peruvian Lina Medina, who had a 6lb son in 1939 aged just five.