UK has a new set of preteen parents. A 12-year-old girl has given birth this week to a 7-pound baby, according to a report by the Daily Mail. She is joined by the 13-year-old father, making the two of them the youngest parents in the country today.

The baby’s official birth was registered Tuesday by the mother and the 27-year-old grandma at the government registry in North London. The preteen parent, whose name could not be revealed due to legal issues, was reportedly excited to raise the baby with the barely-teenage father.

According to the parents of both children, the preteen parents first met each other during Christmas day of 2012, when the mother was 10 and the father was 12, and have been “totally in love” with each other ever since.

The grandparents of the baby defended the preteen parents who have been on the receiving end of harsh criticisms from netizens since the news of the mother giving birth to the 7-pound baby broke out. They say that they believe the love between the preteen parents is genuine and that they are confident that they will be able to raise their daughter well.

“The baby’s mum and dad have been in a relationship for more than year, so this isn’t a fleeting romance. They intend to stick together and bring their daughter up together.”

They also described the love the preteen mother has for the boy:

‘They’re very into each other, totally in love. She is obsessed with him. She sees this as true love. They want to get married.”

It was reported that the mother’s Grade 7 class was shocked when they learned that their classmate had a baby. According to them, the preteen mom had only left classes one month prior giving birth and did not look remotely pregnant during her stay in the school.

Another preteen couple shared the same situation in 2006 when Tressa Middleton, then also 12, gave birth to a baby in Edinburgh with her 15-year-old partner.

In 2009, Tressa’s child, who was already a toddler, was taken away for adoption after it was found shortly after she gave birth that her baby was in fact a result of rape perpetrated by her 23-year-old brother, Jake, who is currently in prison. She also miscarried her second child and has suffered from heavy alcohol and drug use.

Despite the negativity they are currently receiving from the general public, both preteen parents are determined, thanks to their own parents support, to raise the child in a warm and loving household.

[Image from Willem Vilthoven via Flickr]