As Bindi Irwin prepares to turn 15 this week, the teenage star has shown she’s ready to dig her heels in to some serious world issues, advocating the use of contraceptives for girls as young as 11.
The daughter of the late Croc Hunter, Steve Irwin, is keen to turn her attentions to the global issue of family planning to curb over-population of the planet, and devote her time to advocating better access to birth control in poorer countries.
In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Mail, Bindi revealed her distress at the plight of young girls in Third World countries who are having more children than they can feed, and proposed the use of contraceptive implants that could help girls as young as 11.
”Girls as young as me or even younger are having kids and that doesn’t seem right to me,” she said.
”There’s such a thing as seven-year-implants, so if you had a girl that was 11 years old and gave her the seven-year implant she wouldn’t be able to have kids until she was 18.
”So things like that maybe, might be able to contribute to solving the problem.
”I think there’s lots of ways to look at it and family planning is so important and I feel bad for those who don’t have access to it and it’s certainly something that’s close to my heart and something I think we need to start thinking about.”
The teenager, who celebrates her birthday on July 26th, told the newspaper that as she gets older she hopes to continue the work of her late father, and focus on the world’s conservation and building awareness that he devoted much of his life to.
”He was my living, breathing super hero and I want to make sure everything that he worked so hard for continues on forever and that’s what’s most important for me,” she said.
Bindi Irwin was raised on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, the home of her dad’s Australia Zoo wildlife park. She will be celebrating her 15th birthday at a special Nim’s Island party at the zoo, with free entry for all children.
