Young teen age girls getting contraceptives without parents' knowledge

[MuteWitness]

There is I am sure an element of that with some Fathers, or even if they were not like that with young girls they still remember that some of their mates were!

 

The girl might not be having sex with anyone, that may not be why she got the implant at all. If your thinking it is and that's why the dad is angry it is not just boys, I know what my friends and I talked about and did at that age.

 

It is all just part of growing up, lots of people will experiment with anything sex/drugs/alcohol maybe all three, this inst the first time a dad wants to protect his daughter but if you don't judge/accuse or jump to conclusions I'm sure your daughter will feel much happier talking to you about anything and by doing that your able to look out for her much more.

[sccsux]

In your case No.

 

Then that shows how little you know.

 

My wife and I were not aware.

 

That doesn't mean that other parents are not aware of the fact that contraception is available to young adults under 16 without parental consent.

 

BTW.. It's nothing new. We used to get free condoms at 14 from the FP clinic on Mulberry Street way back in 1980.

 

I hope they maintain their sheltered lives

 

Sounds like it is you who has had a "sheltered life" if you don't know that contraception is available to your daughter's age group without parental consent (it's been on the news often enough).

 

I hope they ... never have to deal with such issues

 

Been there.

 

Done that.

[scottsmith]

Not sure if this has been raised yet, but to the original OP's Thread title, if a young person under 16 needed their parents concent to have a contraceptive, there would be alot more under 16's pregnant in Britain.

 

When I was 14, my 14 year old girlfriend went on the pill, largely due to us being sexually active. We were both Mature enough to decide that it was the right course of action, we didn't want a baby. My Mum was told, however we didn't tell her Mum as we knew she would blow her top.

 

 

However, I have a 14 year old sister and I wouldn't be happy if I found she was sexually active. Wierd when you suddenly become a hypocrite once grown up, isn't it?

[carly83]

How is it different being a mother?

i think mothers can understand just how painfull periods can be. there for take a more relaxed view to it than a father (alot of men i know seem to think all women who complain of cramps etc is merely putting it on) but of course they will never know how much periods could interfear with there childs life so there always going to see the sex side over the controlling period side first.

[anniec]

I have a 12 year old daughter and have been reading this with interest. I knew that various types of contraception is available to the under 16, I didn't realise however, that they could have a medical procedure with after care needed (as it has a wound I would imagine - I've not had one of these so can't say for certain) without parental consent.

 

The level of hormones are the same as mini pill so I have no issues with that side of things as I had the pill for bad periods and to regulate me when I was 14 so I know it's not always about sex.

 

I guess if it was me the biggest issue I would feel is that my daughter had gone through making this type of decision on her own without the support of me or her dad. Not to mention I would feel a bit hurt that she felt she couldn't talk to either of us about it.

 

Everyone is different and everyone has different idea's on what is and isn't acceptable for their own children and a different set of idea's of what is acceptable for other peoples children.

 

I hope that you accept that your daughter was sensible in thinking about contraception if she does want to have sex and sensible enought to take her own health in her hands and make an informed decision to help her with her periods. I feel it's side issue of how it all came about and what she can and cannot do without permission as well as a side issue that she didn't tell you about it before hand.

[sccsux]

I didn't realise however, that they could have a medical procedure with after care needed (as it has a wound I would imagine - I've not had one of these so can't say for certain) without parental consent.

 

The "medical procedure" is (basically) an injection.

 

Hardly invasive surgery, is it?

[19SazzaLou91]

I didn't realise however, that they could have a medical procedure with after care needed (as it has a wound I would imagine - I've not had one of these so can't say for certain) without parental consent.

 

There is no after-care. Pretty much all that happens is they insert it into your arm, put a dressing on it, and then you can't get it wet for a couple of days. That's all. The wound is only about 2mm wide.

[anniec]

I didn't at any point say invasive surgery!?

 

It is still an injection and then insertion of the device which is a medical procedure

[MuteWitness]

The "medical procedure" is (basically) an injection.

 

Hardly invasive surgery, is it?

 

It is a matchstick sized implant that is just pushed under the skin with a needle type thing, it leaves a little mark like an injection but because of it going under the skin the skin can bruise when it is done.

[Kthebean]

Carly makes a good point that people very often say ‘the parents know the child best’ or ‘the parents always have the childs best interest at heart’ but this is not always the case.

 

What if you had a child who was being sexually abused by her parents, refused access to a clinic because she didn’t have parental consent? OK it’s an extreme circumstance, but you can still get under 16s whos parents don’t care about them enough to go to the doctors with them.