A 10-year-old Colombian girl has become one of the world's youngest ever mothers, sparking outrage around the world. The girl, a member of the northern indigenous Wayuu tribe in La Guajira Peninsula, was 39 weeks pregnant when she underwent a Caesarean section, according to the Daily Mail.
A local news station reported that the girl came into a hospital bleeding profusely and in a lot of pain. She gave birth to a 5 1/2-pound baby girl.
"We've already seen similar cases of Wayuu girls," said Efraín Pacheco Casadiego, director of the hospital where the girl gave birth, according to the New York Daily News. "At a time when [the girls] should be playing with dolls, they go to having to take care of a baby. It's shocking."
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It was the first time the pre-teen from the town of Manaure had visited a doctor during her pregnancy, reported the Huffington Post. The Colombian constitution guarantees the Wayuu people land and autonomy, and allows the indigenous tribe to maintain its sovereignty.
"Since it's a Wayuu girl we are trying to respect all of their rights since they have autonomy and their own jurisdiction," said Alejandro Samplayo, director of Instituto Colombiano Bienestar Familiar, an organization similar to the US's Planned Parenthood, to the Huffington Post.
Members of the Wayuu community have remained quiet about the girl and her child, according to the New York Daily News. The baby's father hasn't been identified, but the Daily Mail reported that some Colombian newspaper speculated he is a 15-year-old boy, and others believe he is a 30-year-old man.
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