You can become a father when your body starts producing spermAccording to science, that age starts even before adolescence.In India, one cannot become a parent before attaining legal age.
What could be the answer to the question of at what minimum age can a child become a father? If we talk about science, it says that a person is capable of becoming a father when his body starts producing sperm. It considers this age to be between 11 and 14 years of age. This means that a child of 11 years of age is capable of becoming a father. There are many examples of this in the world. A few years ago in Kerala, a child became a father at the age of 12 and this matter reached the High Court. We will see how and at what young age a person becomes capable of becoming a father. What is the opinion of science and law on this?
A study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health found that becoming a father before the age of 25 can have serious health consequences. It may even lead to early death in middle age. Although there is no legal age for becoming a father in India, it is necessary to be at least 18 years of age for marriage and sexual relations.
Men can produce sperm from adolescence to old age. As long as they do, they can have children. However, as men age, the risk of their sperm having damaged DNA increases. Due to which it may become more difficult to have a healthy child.
12 year old child has become a father in Kerala
In an unusual incident in Kerala, a 12-year-old boy became the father of a child after getting into a relationship with a 17-year-old girl. Initially the boy’s potency was questioned due to his age but DNA reports and potency tests revealed that the boy was indeed the father. A case was also registered against both the boy and the girl on this matter. By the way, such news is often heard in foreign countries also.
What was the doctor’s opinion then?
When the Kerala case was in the news a few years ago, Dr. PK Jabbar, head of the endocrinology department of Trivandrum Medical College, had said that medically speaking, it is possible to father a child at this age. The doctor said, “The age of maturity of children is between 12 to 14 years. Sometimes this can happen a little earlier also. However, from the biological point of view, experts suggest that the age of 20 to 30 years is the best age for a man to become a father.
What kind of cases came to light in foreign countries
In Britain, a child named Shawn Stewart became a father at the age of just 11 years. At the same time, a case of a 12 year old child becoming a father also came to light in Auckland, New Zealand. These cases have raised the question as to what is the minimum age at which a child can become a father.
Britain’s Shawn Stewart became a father at the age of just 11. The mother of his child was his 15-year-old neighbor Emma Webster. This happened in 1998. Their son Ben Lewis was born just a month after Shawn’s 12th birthday. However, Shawn gets into trouble with the law and Emma has remarried. He has the custody of Ben.
A 12-year-old boy became a father in Auckland, New Zealand. In this case, his friend’s 36-year-old mother, who was the mother of his child, was arrested. Britain’s Alfie Patton and his girlfriend Chantel Steadman became parents at the age of 15. She gave birth to a baby girl Maisie Roxanne. Later it was revealed that the real father of the girl was 14-year-old Tyler Barker.
When can a boy become a father and a girl become a mother?
Science says that a boy becomes capable of becoming a father only when the production of sperm starts in his semen. Most doctors believe that most boys become capable of becoming father at the age of 14 years. At the same time, girls can become mothers at the age of 13 years. Doctor Melissa Conrad writes in the medical site Medicine Net that this age can also happen early in boys and girls. This age can be 12 to 14 years in boys and 10 to 12 years in girls.
When do hormones develop in boys?
According to a report published in a science magazine, hormones develop in any boy only till the age of 14 years. Before that his body cannot produce sperm. If we go to Wikipedia’s page List of Youngest Birth Fathers, it is written there that boys in the world have become fathers twice at the age of 11. At the same time, three cases of becoming a father at the age of 12 have come to light so far.
World’s youngest father and mother
In Mexico, on November 12, 2015, information about becoming a father of a child at the age of 10 came to light. According to the report of Telemundo.com news site, this incident took place in the most backward and poor area of Mexico. His parents had sold their 10 year old son in exchange for cattle. After purchasing, the boy was kept with a 16 year old girl. After a few months he became a father.
He is said to be the youngest father in the world. However, his age could not be confirmed. According to a report by Russian news site ‘Pravda’, in 2010, a 10-year-old girl from China gave birth to a child. However, China did not confirm this news.
When are the chances of pregnancy highest?
The World Health Organization has set semen parameters, which are standards for healthy sperms. These include sperm count, morphology and motility. A decline in semen parameters may be seen in men from the age of 35. Sperm health can depend on many things, which affect fertility.
The highest probability of fertility in terms of quantity is when the semen contains at least 15 million sperms per milliliter. Too few sperms in ejaculation reduces the chances of getting pregnant. At the same time, pregnancy is possible if less than 40 percent of the sperms are mobile at the time of ejaculation. The highest possibility of becoming a father in men is between the age of 22 to 25 years.
What does the law say
In India, to be considered a legal adult and have responsibility for a child, a person must be 18 years of age or older. However, a mother of a 16 or 17 year old can request the court to declare her as an adult so that she can be responsible for her child. For men this age is 18 years.
According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), a child is defined as any person under the age of 18 years. In India, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000 considers any person under the age of 18 years as a child due to the different mental conditions of children and adults.
According to the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, if the adoption is by a male and the person being adopted is a female, then the adoptive father must be at least 21 years older than the person being adopted.
Tags: Father, father’s day, Mother, Motherhood, Young father
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 20, 2024, 12:57 IST