Fourteen-year-old Maria Santos brought her six-week-old baby to Dr. William Chen’s pediatric office in Boston on November 20, 1949, for the baby’s first checkup—and sixty-year-old pediatrician Dr. Chen had been examining the healthy infant while
also taking a medical history from the mother—and as part of his standard intake questions, Dr. Chen had asked “And how old are you, mother? I need it for the baby’s medical records”—and Maria had answered “Fourteen.
I just turned fourteen last month”—and Dr. Chen had looked up from examining the baby and said “You’re fourteen now with a six-week-old baby, which means you gave birth at thirteen. Are you married?”—and M
aria had said “Yes, married at twelve to Antonio Santos, he’s forty”—and Dr. Chen had continued the baby’s examination but had also documented extensively in both the infant’s chart and in a separate report: “Infant healthy, mother age 14, states gave birth at age 13, married at age 12 to man age 40. MANDATORY REPORT: Mother is minor child in illegal marriage. Infant may be at risk. Child protective services notified”—and he’d contacted authorities immediately after the appointment—and the pediatric intake records became evidence, and Antonio was arrested—and Dr. Chen testified at trial: “A fourteen-year-old brought a baby to my offic
e. I asked her age for medical records and discovered she’d been married at twelve and given birth at thirteen. As a physician, I’m mandated to report child abuse, which this clearly was.”
Maria lived until 2015, dying at age eighty. Before her death, she reflected: “I was fourteen when I took my baby to the pediatrician for his first checkup. The doctor asked my age for the medical records. I told him fourteen. He asked when I’d marr
ied and I said at twelve. He examined my baby and then filed a report about me. That pediatric intake form became evidence. Pediatricians care for children’s health. That pediatrician cared for my baby’s health and mine by reporting my child marriage.”
