A WIFE told yesterday how she became the world's youngest gran - at just 23.
Mum-of-two Rifca Stanescu was 12 when she had her first child Maria.
She urged the girl not to follow her example - but Maria gave birth to son Ion while only 11.
Rifca had married jewellery seller Ionel Stanescu when she was 11 and he was 13.
They eloped because Rifca feared her father wanted her to marry another village lad in Investi, Romania. She was forgiven when she had her daughter - making her mum, also Maria, a great-gran at 40.
Son Nicolae was born a year later. The young mum later tried to persuade Maria to stay at school.
But Maria left to wed when she was ten - and had her baby six months later.
Rifca cuddled grandson Ion, now two, and said: "I am happy to be a grandmother but wished more for Maria."
Britain's youngest gran was an unnamed 26-year-old from Rotherham, Yorks. Her daughter, 12, gave birth in 1999.
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A Romanian woman claims she became the world's youngest grandmother at age 23.
Rifca Stanescu, a mother of two, was just 12 when she gave birth to her first child Maria, The Sun newspaper reports.
She married jewellery seller Ionel Stanescu when she was 11 and he was 13, which is common in gypsy culture.
Rifca had eloped with Ionel because she was worried her father wanted her to marry another local boy.
But all was forgiven when she had her daughter Maria, and then had son Nicolae one year later.
Despite urging her against an early pregnancy, Rifca's daughter Maria gave birth to a son, Ion, at age 11 in their village Investi.
Maria left the family to wed when she was 10, and gave birth to Ion six months later.
"I am happy to be a grandmother but wished more for Maria," Rifca told The Sun.
The birth of Ion has made Rifca's mother, also named Maria, a great-grandmother at 40.
