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Help give an abused child and her baby some hope.
green_girl
Posts: 931
http://www.achildandherbaby.com/
A 10 y.o. girl in the Atlanta area was raped and impregnated by her foster brother while in foster care.
The kind family who have taken her are asking for donations as well as kind words of support for the girl.
Read her story.
A 10 y.o. girl in the Atlanta area was raped and impregnated by her foster brother while in foster care.
The kind family who have taken her are asking for donations as well as kind words of support for the girl.
Read her story.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Sorry for my cynicism, but something doesn't smell right about this. Do you know these people? A 10 year old getting pregnant and SHE decided to keep the baby? Her older foster brother? How much older? Is there a link to the police reports?
Why does a foster family that couldn't care for this child now able to not only take her in but a new baby and only need $1,000 (now upped to $2,800)?
And the original $300 was so the 10 year old could shop and feel like a normal 10 year old?
Why would the collection period end Dec 15? Their needs will end a month before the baby is born?
They know who did it, but google doesn't show any sort of court proceedings (or anything else even apparently remotely related) even though this happened 7 or 8 months ago?
Maybe, I'm way off base, but something just doesn't sound right about this. I apologize in advance if I am indeed off and there's some personal connection that made you bring this to our attention. This is a terrible story, and maybe it's just me wanting it not to be true.
what if the older foster brother & her were friendly with one another and there was no rape at all? i don't know the story and again to freaked out at this time to give it a go.
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
I'm with you on this one... mostly because I an a skeptic, like you... but, primarily, because I tend to cast a jaundiced eye on anything on the computer that asks for money. Not the big things, such as Red Cross contributions to Hurricane Sandy victims... because I saw Hurricane Sandy and her victims.
I would like to verify with anything that would validate this... such as a news report, a criminal charge, etc...
anything other than a singular webpage.
Hail, Hail!!!
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
No, I don't know the people personally, and I'm not going to try to convince anyone to give money when they're not comfortable with it.
But they are also asking for kind and supportive words for the girl — which are free. There might be a poem, scripture or thoughts of your own you could share. Send it from a secondary/anonymous email account if you're worried about getting spammed.
I couldn't find a news story about this online either, but in the process, came across way too many similar stories. :(
I understand your cynicism about being asked to give money online for a story that's not verified by someone you know or trust. But the story itself doesn't sound at all unbelievable to me.
Of course the pregnant child would be the one to decide to keep the baby. It's her decision to make. Aside from the fact that she doesn't have any parents to make the decision for her, it's illegal to force a child (or anyone else) to have an abortion. (In most states, however, it IS legal to force a minor to have a child when she chooses to have an abortion.)
Regarding there not being a publicly-available police report, I would assume the foster brother is a minor & it was my understanding that minors' records are not available to the public. Plus, it's likely that nothing would be done to him anyway, especially if he's closer to her age. The child herself or the parents of the rapist would have to really stand up and demand that the rapist be prosecuted, and what are the chances of that happening? And it's particularly unlikely that anything would happen to him if the girl said - or the foster family got her to say - that she consented. A girl under the age of consent having sex is an issue for Child Protective Services and their job would be to ensure her safety by removing her from the home - which it seems like they did - not to prosecute the guy she had sex with. Also, I'm pretty sure that if he was also under the age of consent then he didn't necessarily commit a crime (if she said she consented).
I had a patient in a similar situation once: 11-year-old pregnant from a 13-year-old neighbor with whom she said she consented to have sex and I had to report her to CPS. She was under the age of consent & he was overit. I asked CPS if they were going to turn the case over to law enforcement & they said no, not unless they got multiple calls reporting problems with the boy.
I can totally understand how a couple would say they can no longer foster a child once they have more children, but then decide to take her back once she gets pregnant. Sounds to me like they're just good people.
I don't think the family only needed $1000; I think it's just that you're supposed to set goals when fundraising & they thought that was a reasonable goal.
I believe the fundraising site explained that the fundraiser would end a month before the baby is due in case the baby is born early. Plus, they need to have time to purchase everything before the baby arrives. I see your point about there being ongoing expenses, but it seems like this is not meant to be an ongoing fundraiser; it seems like they want to be able to surprise the family with a big chunk of money all at once.
It all seems pretty reasonable to me. And, unfortunately, pregnant 10-year-olds aren't really that uncommon (and the risk is increased for those in foster care).
This issue has always been really interesting to me, especially when we start thinking about parental consent laws for abortion. My experience is that many people say such young girls shouldn't be allowed to make these decisions for themselves - or at least that the parents should step in & heavily influence the girls' decisions - but they totally disagree about what decision should be made, and they all think that their decision is obviously the right one. It all comes down to the values of the parents.
I came to know the patient I mentioned in my previous post when her pediatrician called to schedule her for an abortion. I assumed the doctor had verified that that's what the girl wanted, but apparently she had only spoken to the girl's family. When I got the girl on the phone & she was alone, I asked what kind of abortion she thought she might want. (This was after about an hour or so of explaining everything, which was really difficult since she didn't know the names of her parts.) When I asked what kind of abortion she wanted, she asked "Which kind do I have to have?," at which point it was my legal (and moral) obligation to tell her she didn't have to have an abortion. Apparently her family hadn't given her an option. They just believed abortion was obviously the right thing to do for a girl her age & that it shouldn't be her decision.
But then there was this other time when a gaggle of teenage girls appeared in my office out of nowhere with the 13-year-old asking for an abortion. She didn't want to tell her mom (her dad was out of the picture) and, legally, she doesn't have to. But by the end of the conversation she seemed like maybe she would like her mom to be there for her and so, after confirming that telling her mom probably wouldn't get her hurt or kicked out or something, I counseled her that maybe she should tell her mom so she could be there for her during the procedure. (She would otherwise have had her 19-year-old cousin there for support.) The next day I get a call from her mom canceling her abortion appointment. Although the girl had been sure of her decision when she talked to me, the mom told me that she obviously wasn't old enough to make that decision & that no young girl should have an abortion. (I convinced her to keep the appointment, just for the ultrasound & to establish prenatal care, but they didn't show.)
Both of these families thought the choice was obvious, but one thought no young girl should have a child & the other thought no young girl should have an abortion. The law in most states tends to lean towards the latter. Most states have parental involvement (consent and/or notification) laws that only require minors to get parents in on the decision when the decision is abortion. No one has a law requiring parental involvement when the decision is to continue a pregnancy. The legislative arguments I've heard in support of parental involvement laws for abortion make the erroneous assumption that, when given the opportunity to decide or influence their daughters' pregnancy decisions, parents will always favor childbirth over abortion.