World's Oddest Mothers
Mother of Most Surviving Children From a Single Birth (8 babies)
Nadya Denise Doud-Suleman Gutierrez, known as Octomom in the media, is an
American woman who came to international attention when she gave birth to octuplets inJanuary 2009. The Suleman octuplets are only the second full set of octuplets to be born alive in the United States and, one week after their birth, surpassed the previous worldwide survival rate for acomplete set of octuplets set by the Chukwu octuplets in 1998. The circumstances of their high order multiple birth have led to controversy in the field of
assisted reproductive technology as well as an investigation by the
Medical Board of California of the
fertility specialist involved. Public reaction turned negative when it was discovered that the single mother already had other six young
children at home at the time and was not
financially independent. Suleman, who was unemployed and on public assistance programs at the time, conceived the octuplets and her six older children via in-vitro fertilization.
(Link)
World's Youngest Mother (5 years old)
Into the hospital at Pisco (Peru) came a tired, ragged
Indian woman from the foothills of the Andes. She led by the hand a shy little girl,scarcely three feet tall, with chestnut braids and an enormously bulging abdomen. Pointing to the frightened child, the Indian woman begged surgeon Geraldo Lozada to exorcise the evil spirits which had taken possession of her. Certain that little Lina Medina had an abdominal tumor, Dr. Lozada examined her and received the surprise of his life when he discovered she was eight months
pregnant.
Dr. Lozada took her to Lima, the capital of Peru, prior to the surgery, to have other specialists confirm that Lina was in fact pregnant.A month and a half later, on May 14, 1939, she gave birth to a boy by a cesarean section that was needed due to her small pelvis. Her son weighed 2.7 kg (6 lb) at birth and was named Gerardo after her doctor. Gerardo was raised believing that Lina was his sister, but found out at the age of ten that she was his mother.
(Link)
World's Oldest First Time Mother (70 years old)
Meet Rajo Devi Lohan, the Indian woman who, in November 2008, gave birth to her first child - at the age of70. She said she had waited for more than 40 years for this child and that she plans to breastfeed her for at least three years. And, who knows, maybe she will.
(Link)
The Mother With the Most Births (69 kids)
Feodor Vassilyev (1707-1782), was a peasant from Shuya, Russia. Though not noteworthy himself, his first wife, Valentina Vassilyeva, set the record for most children birthed by a single woman. She gave birth to total of 69 children; however, few other details are known of her life, such as her date of birth or death. She gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, 7 sets of triplets and 4 sets of quadruplets between 1725 and 1765, in a total of 27births. 67 of the 69children born survived infancy.
The modern world record for giving birth is held by Leontina Albina from San Antonio, Chile. Now in her mid-sixties, she claims to be the mother of 64children. Of these, 55 are documented.
The mother with the greatest number of kids that are not tiwns is Livia Ionce. This Romanian woman, 44, gave birth to her 18th child in Canada in 2008.
(Link)
