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A 13-year-old boy pictured in a British tabloid cradling an infant is reportedly one of the country’s youngest-known fathers.  Baby-faced and only 4 feet (1.22 meters) tall, the boy, Alfie, was just 12 when he impregnated Chantelle, now 15, The Sun said. Shown in a video posted Friday to the tabloid’s Web site, Alfie looks more like he’s 8 — not 13 — as he takes the newborn girl in his arms.

Asked what he would do to support the child financially, Alfie asks in a high-pitched voice, “What does financially mean?”  The girl was reportedly taking birth control pills but missed one, the newspaper reported. Friends and relatives left the family home near Eastbourne, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) southeast of London, without speaking to reporters waiting outside Friday. The teenagers could not immediately be contacted.

Australia’s deadliest bushfire has killed at least 93 people, some as they fled in cars or as they huddled in houses when the inferno engulfed rural towns in the country’s southeast.

The fire storm tore through several small towns north of Melbourne on Saturday night destroying everything in its path. One family was forced to dive into a farm reservoir to survive while others took refuge in a community shed with firefighters standing between them and a wall of flames.

A badly burned man in the town of Kinglake, where there were many fatalities, was kept alive for six hours by being partially submerged by friends in a pool until help arrived.

“It rained fire,” said one survivor, showing his singed shirt. “We hid in the olive grove and watched our house burn.”

One of the babies is breathing with the help of special equipment, while the other boy is in the special care unit. Doctors say both are doing well. The twins will be kept in hospital until they reach a specified weight and can breathe on their own.

Hayer’s case has raised many ethical questions about how far to push the frontiers of medical science, even from the Calgary specialist who took on her case.  “We can do so much but the question is, should we do it just because we can do it?” said obstetrician Dr. Colin Birch, who was excited by the challenge but says he has yet to reconcile the social implications.

“It all sounds very fine when this age group — isn’t it fantastic what medical technology can do, how we’re stretching the boundaries and everything else — but there’s so much more involved in this. It’s not just having the babies and being born,” he told CBC News.

“There’s not just one generation gap here, there’s two generation gaps. They’re really what would be like the age of grandparents.”

Hayer, who is originally from India, tried for years to get pregnant with her husband, but she miscarried three times.  After becoming a permanent resident in Canada, an obstetrician gynecologist diagnosed a problem with Ranjit’s womb and recommended surgery. She had the surgery in Calgary but she still couldn’t conceive.

Woman got pregnant through fertility treatment in India

About 10 years ago, the couple paid a doctor in India for in vitro fertilization, but he took off with their money.

The couple spent years working and saving up their money in Canada. After being turned down for IVF in this country because of her age, Hayer returned to India for the treatment using donor eggs last year — and got pregnant with triplets.

“I thought it was a joke because the referral said 60-year-old patient with triplets, and I thought one of my colleagues or somebody’s just playing jokes with me or up to mischief and then actually the patient turned up in my office,” recalled Birch.

One of Hayer’s embryos had to be terminated for medical reasons and the pregnancy with twins left her with high blood pressure and diabetes.

She also had a condition called placenta previa — where the placenta is attached to the bottom of the uterus and covers part or all of the cervix and can cause severe bleeding. Hayer spent the last four weeks in hospital so doctors could deliver the babies at a moment’s notice if necessary.

Hayer began to hemorrhage this week so Birch performed an emergency C-section to deliver the twins. The bleeding was so severe he had to take out the woman’s uterus. Hayer was admitted to the intensive care unit, where she required blood transfusions to stabilize her condition.

According to doctors, Hayer said she’s just happy she gets to be a mother. She said she has enough family support to help through what might be a tough time.

“I couldn’t imagine if I was 65 having two five-year-olds running around crazily. The energy to do that is incredible,” said Birch.

With files from Dr. Brian Goldman

Penny Patricia Boudreau has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 20 years after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the death of her 12-year-old daughter Karissa.

The 34-year-old former Shelburne County resident pled guilty to the lesser charge in Bridgewater Supreme Court on Friday. (Jan. 30), re-electing to be tried by judge alone, and proceeding directly to sentencing.

Sobs of sorrow filled the courtroom as the chilling details of the crime were revealed for the first time.

Reading an agreed statement of facts in the case, Crown prosecutor Paul Scovil told the court that it was through an undercover sting operation that police were able to obtain Boudreau’s confession that she had strangled Karissa and dumped her half clothed body on the frozen banks of the LaHave River on Jan. 27, 2008.

Karissa’s remains were discovered on Feb. 9, 2008 by a nine-year-old boy and his mother. Police began to suspect Boudreau in the murder of Karissa two days after the body was discovered, when neighbors overheard a ruckus in the apartment shared by Boudreau and Macumber.

“Macumber was saying over and over ‘Penn, how could you do this,’” said Scovil.

The undercover operation began on Feb. 14, 2008 when Boudreau and her then boyfriend Vernon Macumber were first arrested and questioned in connection with the murder.

While Boudreau and Macumber were in custody an undercover officer posing as a cellmate was able to establish a bond with Macumber.

Acting on the opportunity, the undercover officer met with Macumber several times after his release, offering him the opportunity for work with him for a crime syndicate.

“A wide scale undercover operation began utilizing a number of scenarios to gain the trust of Macumber,” sad Scovil.

When the Boudreau and Macumber moved to Halifax on April 1, 2008, so did the undercover operation. During a meeting on April 16 Macumber made comments to the undercover operator to the effect that he had nothing to do with the murder of Karissa, and that he suspected Penny had murdered her daughter. He also told the undercover officer that he was still living with her in order to keep her close so she would not implicate him in the homicide.

“On May 3, 2008, undercover operators were able to convince Macumber they required the services of a female to assist in the work they were performing,” said Scovil. A meeting was arranged between Boudreau and the undercover operators and she became “very active with the undercover operators and their work.”

As the three-month anniversary of the discovery of Karissa’s body approached, investigators noticed that Boudreau was troubled by media reports that named her place of employment and commented on the value of DNA evidence. Boudreau made the comment to an undercover operator that she wished “the police exhibit vault would burn down or blow up.”

On June 11, a meeting was arranged between Boudreau and an undercover operator whom she was led to believe had connections and could possibly make her problem go away, but in order for him to help her she had to tell him everything about what happened to her daughter and she did.

Boudreau told the undercover operator that she and Macumber were having issues, and that Macumber had gave her an ultimatum to pick either him or Karissa.

For several days she thought about it before taking the life of her daughter.

On Jan. 27, the day Karissa disappeared, Boudreau told the undercover operator that she and Karissa had drove around for several hours talking and that things had gotten out of hand and they were both angry. “Boudreau said she ‘did what she had to do,’” said Scovil.

With Karissa in the car, Boudreau drove to the Sobeys parking lot at around 5:30 p.m. to pick up some groceries. While still in the store and Karissa still alive in the car, Boudreau called Macumber and left a message saying that Karissa was not in the car when she came out.

Boudreau then returned to the car, put the groceries in the trunk, grabbing a piece of beige twine and putting it in her pocket.

“Karissa kept wanting to get out of the car so Boudreau waited until it was dark and drove to the William Hebb Road and told Karissa that if she wanted to get out then, to get out,” said Scovil. “Boudreau said she couldn’t let her go back and tell people what a horrible mom she was.”

Both mother and daughter got out of the car into the dark, snowy night. Boudreau went to grab her daughter but it was slippery so she tackled her backwards to the ground, pinning Karissa down with her knees on her chest. With her hands underneath her Karissa couldn’t move.

“”Mommy don’t,’ was the only thing Karissa said,” said Scovil.

Face to face with her daughter, Boudreau took the twine and strangled Karissa until she felt her life drain away.

Boudreau then dragged Karissa’s body back to the car, and drove back to Bridgewater to decide what to do next. She put the twine in a Tim Horton’s cup and threw it into a garbage can at Tim Hortons on High Street, while Karissa’s body was still in the car.

Boudreau then drove to the turn around spot on King Street, adjacent to the LaHave River where she parked the car, shut it and the lights out, and using her blue jeans as leverage, dragged Karissa’s body to the edge of the steep embankment.

Karissa’s pants, underwear and socks came off as Boudreau dragged the body, said Scovil, which Boudreau felt would make people think Karissa was sexually assaulted.

“Boudreau stated Karissa’s hoodie and vest came off and she was left wearing a t-shirt with one pant leg in her jeans,” said Scovil. “Boudreau then rolled her over the edge of the bank knowing that the weather was calling for lots of snow” and Karissa’s body wouldn’t be found for a while.

Boudreau then got back in her car, taking the vest, hoodie and a croc, and throwing the articles of clothing into a garbage can by the Bridgewater swimming pool, realizing the other piece of footwear was missing..

Boudreau then went home and told Macumber that Karissa was missing, calling the police, as well as family, friends and teachers to check and see if anyone knew where Karissa was.

Scovil said Boudreau told the undercover operator that she would do anything for Macumber and the thought of losing him was harder than the thought of losing her daughter.

“A mother killing her child is an inconceivable act,” said Scovil. “Karissa was failed by the one person who should have protected her, her mother.”

Before passing sentence victim impact statements from Karissa’s father Paul Boudreau, and stepmother Chasity Grear were read to the court.

In his statement, Karissa’s father said that he had many dreams of being many things in his daughter’s life but “now all those dreams are gone… the centre of those dreams is gone because of one selfish act.”

Grear wrote that there are no words to describe what the family has endured over the past year. “We struggle through each day and ask not why but what good can come out of this senseless act of violence… Karissa got a death sentence. We got a life sentence.”

In passing down sentence, Justice Margaret Stewart said this was a “violent death” that not only shocked the community but the police as well, noting the circumstances in the case are close to first degree murder.

Justice Stewart noted that Boudreau didn’t turn herself in, didn’t show remorse to the undercover operator, and mused that it must have been “crocodile tears” that Boudreau shed when she so passionately made the public appeal for the safe return of Karissa.

“You can never call yourself mother again in connection with Karissa,” Justice Stewart told Boudreau. “Mommy don’t are words that will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

When asked if she had anything to say, Boudreau offered a tearful “I’m sorry.”

Justice Stewart accepted the joint recommendation from crown and defense for life in prison, with eligibility for parole after 20 years, or June 14, 2028. Boudreau’s sentence starts from the date of her arrest.

Under what is known as the faint hope clause, Boudreau can apply for parole after 15 years.

A former Shelburne County woman pleaded guilty this morning in Bridgewater court to a charge of second-degree murder in the death of her 12-year-old daughter Karissa Boudreau.

After the guilty plea, the court was moving into a quick sentencing hearing for Penny Boudreau, a hearing that was ongoing as this article was being written Friday morning.

Shelburne Coast Guard reporter Kathy Johnson is at the scene and is providing reports on the court hearing.

Boudreau, 34, has remained in jail since being charged with the murder last June by Bridgewater Police and RCMP.

Her daughter Karissa was reported missing on Jan. 27, 2008 by her mother. After weeks of searching and tearful pleas to the public, the body of the girl was found Feb. 9 along the LaHave River.

Karissa had only recently moved to Bridgewater, having grown up in Shelburne County where she attended elementary schools on Cape Sable Island and in Shelburne.