Woman, 23, Becomes World's Youngest Grandmother

A woman from Romania said she became the world’s youngest grandmother – at the age of 23.

Ridca Stanescu, who gave birth to her daughter Maria when she was just 12 years old, said she urged her daughter not to follow in her footsteps – but Maria gave birth to her son when she was just 11.

Now 25, Stanescu, said she wanted more for her daughter.

“I am happy to be a grandmother but I wished something else for Maria – and something else for me,” she said.

Stanescu said “marrying young” is a way of life in the Romanian gypsy culture. She was married at the age of 11.

“I did not try to stop my daughter getting married because this is the tradition, it's what happens,” she said.

The youngest British grandmother was an unnamed 26-year-old from Rotheram, Yorkshire, whose 12-year-old daughter gave birth in 1999.