Do you remember the Youngest Mother in the World? See what happened to Her now

• Tressa Middleton, 27, from Bathgate, Scotland, gave birth when she was 12
• Fell pregnant after being raped by brother Jason, which she kept secret
• Jason was jailed for four years in 2009 after DNA proved he was the father 
• Miss Middleton is now aged 27 and expecting second baby with partner Darren 

A woman who became Britain’s youngest mother after giving birth at the age of 12 has announced she is expecting another child. Tressa Middleton, from Bathgate, West Lothian, hit the headlines in 2006 when it was revealed she was giving birth just after leaving primary school. Her child was taken into social care, as Tressa slipped into depression and struggled with addictions to alcohol and cigarettes.

Years later, the dark truth behind her tale was uncovered when it was revealed that the father of her baby was her brother, Jason, who had raped her. He was sentenced to four years behind bars for his twisted crime. Tressa has since turned her life around with partner Darren Young, and the couple revealed this week that she is around 20 weeks pregnant with another daughter by him. Posting a picture of their birth scan to social media, Tressa’s partner Darren said earlier this month: ‘It’s another girl – Arihanna is absolutely delighted.’

Arihanna is the couple’s first daughter, born weighing 8lbs 1oz in October 2017 after a 24-hour labour. Tressa was the talk of the country and a media frenzy surrounded her family in 2006 when it was revealed she was expecting a baby aged just 11.

She had suffered a damaged childhood – her mum Tracey Tallons struggled with addiction and Tressa was forced to endure late night parties.

Her older brother Jason sexually abused her from the age of seven and she fell pregnant by him when he, aged 16 at the time, drunkenly raped her four years later. ‘Sometimes he bribed me, blackmailed me, to do it. He’d say he was going to tell Mum. He’d give me things – joints, drink, cigarettes. Or he’d threaten me,’ Tressa told the Daily Mail, ten years ago.

She kept the identity of the baby’s father a secret and the pair were taken into care until – aged 14 – she broke down and told a social worker what had really happened. Jason, 19 at the time, was jailed for four years in 2009 after a police probe and DNA test proved Tressa was telling the truth. MailOnline understands he has since been released from jail for that crime.

The attack, and her later breakdown, led to her daughter being taken away from her and then adopted in 2008. Tressa had no access, save for a twice-yearly letter. At her lowest point, in 2011, she developed a £400-a-day heroin habit. But she managed to get clean with the help of a counsellor and began to build a new life with Darren.

But their world was shattered weeks later when Tressa suffered a miscarriage. Just three days afterwards, her mother died suddenly from pneumonia at just 41. It would be four painful years before she conceived again and she feared she’d never cradle a child in her arms. Tressa hasn’t seen her brother since her mother’s funeral but still suffers crippling flashbacks of the sex attacks he subjected her to as a child.

Tressa, of Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland, has previously spoken of her upset that she was unable to keep her first baby.

Her relationship with her mother broke down after she was called a ‘lying b’ when Jason’s abuse was uncovered. In 2010, she publicly revealed she was in a relationship with Darren and said it was the first time a man had ever ‘treated her nicely’. Tressa explained the pain of losing her first child to the social care system: ‘I felt pure joy the moment Arihanna was born. There were times I thought I’d never have another baby, like it wasn’t meant to be.

‘But I also feel so guilty, because Arihanna is with me and my older daughter is not. ‘She is still the first thing I think about every morning and the last thing I think about at night. ‘I love her so much and I’ll always be her mum. I can’t be properly happy without her. It breaks my heart that Arihanna will grow up without knowing her big sister.’

She told the Sunday Mirror in 2018: ‘Arihanna will always know she has a big sister. I talk to her about it now, even though she can’t understand. She’ll never be a secret. ‘They are polar opposites – Arihanna is smiley and contented, while my other daughter was vocal and feisty. But I just know they’d get on.

‘I tell Arihanna if her sister was here they’d play games together. I really hope that one day they can meet. It would mean the world to me. ‘In the meantime all I want is for Arihanna to have a normal childhood, where she knows she is loved and safe.’