Remember Britain's youngest mum who gave birth at the age of 12 years
old? At that time, her name wasn't revealed to protect her identity. She
has since grown up and at 23 years old, she now has a fiance and is
pregnant with another child. As Tressa Middleton struggled to get
pregnant with her fiance, she felt she was being punished for letting
her firstborn be taken away and feared she would never have another
child.
Fortunately, her despair turned to joy when she discovered she was finally pregnant with her first baby with fiancé, Darren Young, 30.
The happy moment came 10 years after she was forced to give up her baby at 2 years when she confessed that her child's father was her older brother who had raped her at 11, making her Britain’s youngest mum.
Tressa, who had a previous miscarriage , has vowed to “never let this new baby go” – but she admitted she is still haunted by the loss of her first tot to another family. She said:
“I know it sounds crazy but when I was trying to fall pregnant and it wasn’t happening, I thought the worst. “Not having my daughter with me still affects me every single day and I thought I was being punished for what happened with her, for letting her go.
“Discovering I was pregnant was bittersweet. I am so excited about what the future holds and I already love my baby. “I cannot wait to meet him or her but when both lines on that pregnancy test showed up, although I was happy, I was desperately sad as well. I had a little cry.
“I am so grateful I am finally going to be the mother I have longed to be all these years. But I don’t ever want my first child to think I abandoned her, or that I am replacing her with this new baby.
“I’d welcome her back tomorrow with open arms if I could and I hope she knows she will always be a part of our family. “But this is the future for me and I can’t keep looking back. The past has made me even more determined to keep this child and give him or her the best possible life.”
Tressa said her family was stunned when she announced she was pregnant at the age of 11 but she never told them that she had been raped by her 16-year-old brother Jason, rather, she told them that it was the result of a drunken fling.
Tressa gave birth to a daughter in 2006 aged 12 and raised her child for two years. But when she finally told them who got her pregnant, Govt authorities took her child from her. She spent the next three years in and out of foster and care homes and fell into a spiral of drink and drug use to numb the pain.
In 2010, she met her fiance and became drug free with his help.
Tressa said:
“My little girl is 10 now. She’ll be 11 in the summer almost the same age I was when I fell pregnant.
“It has made me realise just how young I was when all that happened. At the time I didn’t feel like I was that young because I had already been through so much but now, it makes me feel sick. No child should have that happen.”
She said they started trying for their own baby 18 months ago when her daughter stopped writing to her.
Tressa said:
“I used to sit waiting for her letters to arrive every six months and my whole life revolved around knowing how she was doing, dreaming of the day we would be reunited.
“I would hang on every little detail about how she was doing in school and what toys she liked. Then the letters suddenly stopped coming and I had to face the reality that my daughter has moved on with another family. I was heartbroken but I realised I wanted to be a proper mum more than anything so we started trying for a baby.
“This time the baby is coming into a happy, secure home with two adults who are going to adore him or her and do everything we can to make sure they have a healthy and happy upbringing.
“I will tell our child about their big sister. There will be no secrets because she is still a big part of our family.
“My hope is that one day my two babies can meet each other but who knows whether that will happen.”
With the rapist brother, Jason |
Tressa, of Bathgate, West Lothian, told how she and Darren had contemplated trying to get custody of her daughter but decided against it.
She added: “I realise now that would be selfish.
“She is settled and has her own life. I wouldn’t want to disrupt that.
“I knew she would be going to a stable and secure home and that was what I wanted for her. That is why I gave up my daughter. I want her to have the best life possible, just like we are going to give this baby. But I just wish her parents would let me know she is OK.
“I write letters in a book to her. It will be up to her if one day she decides to find me, and I will be here waiting and she can read everything I have written. It helps me to get my feelings down"The rapist brother is serving a 30 year jail term for the rape.
Her mum who stood by her throughout the years sadly died in 2012.
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