Britain’s youngest-ever mother who had a daughter aged 12 after being raped by her brother has revealed the ‘bittersweet experience’ of giving birth to another child.
Tressa Middleton, 24, of Bathgate, Scotland, was raped by her then 16-year-old brother Jason at the age of just 11.
When her baby girl was two she was forced to give her away after authorities found out the shocking truth.
The decision to reveal her secret and allow her daughter to be taken into care haunted her, spiralling into a deep depression and heroin addiction.
But in October last year she and her fiance Darren Young, 31, welcomed their daughter Arihanna into the world.
Tressa Middleton (pictured), 24, of Bathgate, Scotland, was raped by her then 16-year-old brother Jason at the age of just 11 and gave birth to her first child nine months later. Now age 24 she and her fiance Darren (pictured) have given birth to a baby girl
Pictured: Tressa is pictured with her baby girl and mother Tracey aged just 12
Ms Middleton (pictured during her school days) was just 11 when she conceived her first child
Speaking about the birth for the first time she told The Mirror: ‘I felt pure joy the moment Arihanna was born. There were times I thought I’d never have another baby,’ says Tressa.
‘But I also feel guilty, because Arihanna is with me and my older daughter is not.
‘I love her so much. I can’t be properly happy without her. It breaks my heart Arihanna will grow up without knowing her big sister.’
Arihanna arrived after a gruelling 24-hour labour but is now ‘smiley and contented’, the polar opposite of her first child, she says.
The 24-year-old believes her two children would get on if they met and remains hopeful it will happen one day.
She told the newspaper: ‘In the meantime all I want is for Arihanna to have a normal childhood, where she knows she is loved and safe.’
Her mother Tracey Tallons struggled with drink and drugs and her daughter was often exposed to her extreme lifestyle.
Sex attacker: Tressa’s brother Jason (pictured) was arrested and jailed for four years after it transpired he had raped his sister
At the age of 7 her brother Jason began sexually abusing her and she eventually fell pregnant with his child four years later.
She managed to keep the paternity a secret for two years but eventually broke down and told a social worker aged 14.
It triggered a police investigation and a 19-year-old Jason was jailed for four years after the truth was revealed.
Ms Middleton struggled to cope and succumbed to drink and drugs, developing a heroin addict.
Years later she managed to get clean and with the help of a counsellor and her boyfriend Darren get her life back on track.
She fell pregnant with his child in 2012 but it ended in a miscarriage – just three days before her mother died of pneumonia aged just 41.
In October last year Tressa (pictured on ITV’s This Morning) and her fiance Darren Young, 31, welcomed their daughter Arihanna into the world
After the intense sadness of losing her baby and her mother in the same week, she was also faced with seeing her rapist brother at her funeral.
She has not seen him since, but still suffers flashbacks of him attacking her.
In the years following her decision to give her first baby up for adoption contact was eventually phased out.
She hasn’t received a letter from her adopted parents for three years – but still sends cards every Christmas and birthday.
With baby Arihanna growing fast, her mother hopes to go to college to study psychology.
She says: ‘I’m determined that her life will be totally different to mine.’