Sisters pregnant at 12, 14 and 16. So what does their mother do? She blames the school

Three sisters have each had children while still at school, the youngest at the age of 12.emma, Jade and Natasha Williams, who receive benefits totalling more than £31,000 a year, are raising their babies alone after they became pregnant within three months of each other.

The sisters, aged 12, 14 and 16 when they gave birth, live in Derby with their twice-divorced mother, who holds the education system responsible for their plight.

"I blame the schools - sex education for young girls should be better," said Julie Atkins, 38. "More and more kids are getting pregnant younger and younger and sex education needs to start a lot earlier.

"If I could turn the clock back I would definitely prefer them to not have children as their education is so important. They've all ruined their lives because they are all too young to have children."

Jemma, the youngest sister, was the first to become pregnant, giving birth to her son T-Jay in February last year. Then, in November, Natasha, 16, who had already had two miscarriages and an abortion, had Amani. The next month, Jade, 14, gave birth to daughter Lita.

Jemma and Jade, who is about to take her GCSEs, are still in school.

The family lives rent-free in a three-bedroom council house, which they claim is too cramped. Their mother claims benefit for Jade and Jemma, now 15, as well as for their children. However, she said that day-to-day life was a struggle.

"It's really difficult to survive on what we have," she said. "My average shopping bill is £90 a week, and then there's all that extra stuff like toys, nappies and medicine.

"The house is far too small. I have to share a bedroom with Natasha and Amani which is very cramped. Hopefully we may be able to get a bigger house, but who knows?"

Mrs Atkins, who had her first child at 20, said she was astonished that her daughters had become pregnant so young. "It just doesn't seem possible," she said.

"I was so shocked when I found out about Jemma. She thought I would hit the roof and didn't tell me for seven months. I only found out when I took her to buy a new bra and as she was being measured I saw her huge bump."

Jemma said: "I didn't tell anyone because I was too scared and didn't know what to do. I only told my boyfriend, who was 14 at the time, but I didn't want to have an abortion.

"He was my first love. He was great to start with, but he's got a new girlfriend now. I was so frightened when I went into hospital to have my baby. It was so painful and I was in labour for three days."

Jade said she had been determined not to do the same, after seeing all the dirty nappies and her sister enduring sleepless nights. But she became pregnant after "a one-night stand".

She said: "It was just one of those things really. I wasn't using contraception and I suppose I just thought it wouldn't happen to me."

Natasha said her pregnancy, while unplanned, had pleased her. "I don't really want to be anything but a full-time mum," she said.

The father, 38, came to see the child "from time to time", but "he's Asian and still lives with his parents, so they don't know about me or Amani".

Earlier this year, the Government's tax and benefit system was said to be responsible for making Britain the single-parent capital of the world.

The Centre for Policy Studies think-tank said married couples on average weekly salaries were only £1 better off than single mothers who never worked and had no contact with the father of their children.

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