Afghan Hospital Records 42 Underage Births in 5 Months as Child Marriage Rises
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 15
Afghan Hospital Records 42 Underage Births in 5 Months as Child Marriage Rises
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 15
Summary
Forty-two underage girls gave birth at one public hospital in northern Afghanistan in the first five months of 2026, including six in a second pregnancy; two mothers died and 18 needed caesarean sections.
Hospital workers and families linked the surge to Taliban rule, which has barred more than 2.2 million girls from schooling beyond sixth grade and, under a new decree this year, set no minimum marriage age.
Debt and hunger are pushing families to trade daughters for survival: reporters found four families that had pledged girls under nine in marriage, including one promised at two months old and another sold over a 300,000-afghani debt.
Afghanistan's maternal mortality rate stands at 600 per 100,000 live births, with the UN citing restrictions on women in healthcare and rural staff shortages as aid cuts and clinic closures deepen the crisis.
Can 'gender apartheid' become a recognized crime before Afghanistan's health system completely collapses under child motherhood?
With child marriage now legalized, how are secret schools fighting to save the future of Afghan girls?
Is the world normalizing relations with the Taliban at the expense of an entire generation of Afghan women?
Afghanistan’s Child Marriage Crisis: 42 Underage Births in 5 Months Signal Deepening Health and Human Rights Emergency
Overview
Afghanistan is facing a growing health crisis as underage motherhood rises sharply, with a public hospital reporting 42 births to underage mothers in just the first five months of 2026. These young girls, whose bodies are not fully developed, often suffer severe medical complications such as ectopic pregnancies and caesarean sections, and tragically, there have been two maternal deaths. The lack of adequate medical care and reliance on traditional remedies delay treatment, putting both mothers and infants at immediate risk. This alarming trend highlights a broader crisis in Afghanistan’s healthcare system, endangering an entire generation.