Bulgarian girl, 11, gives birth to her daughter... on her wedding day

[Grimmlok]

do they not have condoms in this backwards country?

[A*O]

The start of the "Borat" movie was shot in a Bulgarian roma village. They weren't actors.

[katerpillar]

Originally Posted by A*O

The start of the "Borat" movie was shot in a Bulgarian roma village. They weren't actors.

Nah, it was a Romanian village - the residents are Romanian Roma (Villagers angry about their lack of benefit from Borat's learnings - World). But... yeah. Your point still stands. Bulgaria's only a border away.

Poor girl. I hope her daughter has a better future than that - but I can't say I'm terribly optimistic.

[McJag]

Originally Posted by Grimmlok

do they not have condoms in this backwards country?

Sure. What do you think they use for balloons?

[cmmdee]

Originally Posted by Annika

back like, 500 years ago 12 year olds got married all the time.

Yes. And it's still gross.

[word]

Originally Posted by Grimmlok

do they not have condoms in this backwards country?

It's not about that, roma community has it's own rules, they don't go with the law of the countries in which they live. Same situation in every country that has gypsies: Italy, Spain, Hungary, Romania etc etc.
They say it's a cultural thing and when governments try to impose law on them they play the victim part.

[A*O]

This is the culture where the blood stained bed sheets are displayed to the wedding guests waiting outside the bridal bedroom to prove the bride was a virgin and worth her dowry. If the groom is "inexperienced" this can take several hours...

[scooter]

Really? I would think that if the groom is inexperienced it would take less than 5 seconds!

[olivia]

Originally Posted by A*O

This is the culture where the blood stained bed sheets are displayed to the wedding guests waiting outside the bridal bedroom to prove the bride was a virgin and worth her dowry. If the groom is "inexperienced" this can take several hours...

It's sometimes worse than that. In order to prove the virginity of the bride, the local midwife breaks her hymen on her wedding night and shows the bloody cloth around.

I figure that often the midwife is hiding blood on her person to make the evidence, and is paid by the bride's family.

For more about Gypsy life read Bury Me Standing.

[NVash]

Theyre gypsies? I thought gypsies went from town to town like the guys in 'The Riches'.

[olivia]

Oh, and another thing - I'm not buying this story. She's not 11.

[Aella]

Originally Posted by NVash

Theyre gypsies? I thought gypsies went from town to town like the guys in 'The Riches'.

Yeah, sure, and they will also CURSE you and STEAL YOUR BABIES!

And as someone who's lived in Bulgaria for nearly a decade no, this isn't common and yes, there are condoms. Like others mentioned, Roma communities have different rules for marriage, and the article does mention charges being pressed against the father.

[A*O]

Meanwhile, in Australia....

Girl, 12, gives birth to boy
JOSEPHINE TOVEY
November 9, 2009

A 12-YEAR-OLD girl from central western NSW who became pregnant to her 15-year-old live-in boyfriend has given birth to a boy.

This year the NSW Department of Community Services apologised when it was revealed the girl's father had warned officials his daughter was sleeping with her boyfriend at her mother's house.

In June it was reported that the girl, from Dubbo, was pregnant and was 11 years old when she conceived.

A departmental spokeswoman confirmed the girl was doing well after giving birth to a healthy baby boy late last month.

''The girl is currently living with her own mother, who is actively supporting her in caring for the newborn baby,'' she said.

''Community Services is continuing to work with the girl, her mother and baby to ensure they are well supported.''

In an interview to be published in Woman's Day today the girl's father is quoted as saying he did not think his daughter, now 12, was up to the task of being a mother.

''She is only a baby herself and now she's got a baby,'' he said. ''She has no maternal instincts at all.''

The Minister for Community Services, Linda Burney, admitted in June that the girl's case had been overlooked by a ''stretched'' department.

The spokeswoman denied an earlier claim that the department had stopped the girl from seeing the baby's father.

''Community Services does not have the power to be able to prevent one child speaking to another,'' she said.

''In this case, Community Services did not tell the boy, or his family, that he couldn't see the young girl.''

The deputy director-general of the department, Annette Gallard, said in June that it had tried to make direct contact with the family after concerns were raised by the girl's father.

with AAP

[C_is_for_Cookie]

In an interview to be published in Woman's Day today the girl's father is quoted as saying he did not think his daughter, now 12, was up to the task of being a mother.

Gee, no shit sherlock.

[Annika]

Originally Posted by cmmdee

Yes. And it's still gross.

i knew this guy who always said 'old enough to bleed, old enough to breed'.

yuck.