A schoolboy of 13 has become one of the Britain youngest dads, prompting concern about the rate of teenage pregnancies in Britain.
Alfie Patten was just 12 when 15-year-old girlfriend Chantelle Steadman conceived.
Maisie Roxanne was born in Eastbourne on Monday, and police said that despite both children being underage, they would not be looking into the case.
In a short video clip posted on YouTube, the boy, whose voice has not broken and who is 4ft in height, said he did not know how he would support his family.
In an interview with the Sunnewspaper he said: "I thought it would be good to have a baby. I didn't think about how we would afford it. I don't really get pocket money. My dad sometimes gives me 10 pounds."
Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said the "tragic" case illustrated the country's social decline. "It exemplifies the point we have been making about broken Britain," he told London's Evening Standardnewspaper.
"It's not about being accusative: it's about pointing out the complete collapse in some parts of society of any sense of what's right and wrong."
Prime minister Gordon Brown said he was not familiar with the individual case, but told Sky TV: "All of us would want to avoid teenage pregnancies."
A family charity blamed government policy. "Unless we begin to seriously address the issue of underage sexual activity, we shall continue to see cases like this," said Norman Wells, director of Family and Youth Concern.
Reuters