The incredible story of Lina Medina - a girl who became a mother at 5 years old

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

A native of the village of Antacancha (Peru), Lina Medina went down in history as the youngest mother in the world. In 1939, she, being a girl of 5 years old, gave birth to a completely he althy male baby. We will try to understand all the details of this amazing record.

Unknown disease and very dangerous tumor

Lina Medina herself was born on September 23, 1933 in the most ordinary family. The girl lived with her parents in a small village, the inhabitants of which were quite superstitious.

One day, Lina's relatives noticed that the girl's belly was growing abnormally. The little one was 5 years old at the time. Parents thought that the girl had some kind of tumor or other disease of the digestive system. At first, Lina was treated by shamans in her native village. The inhabitants of these places believe that there is an evil spirit Apu, capable of inhabiting a snake in the human body. However, none of the shaman's magical rites contributed to the improvement of the girl's well-being. On the contrary, Lina complained of abdominal pain, which continued to increase in size. The girl's parents decided to seek help from the officialmedicine and began to prepare for a trip to the nearest major city.

The diagnosis no one expected

The closest good hospital to Lina's home village was in the city of Pisco. During the initial examination, the doctors suggested that the girl's unusually enlarged abdomen might be due to a fibroma. To clarify the diagnosis, the child was shown to the gynecologist Gerardo Lozada. The doctor examined the girl and was shocked. In her stomach was by no means a large tumor, but a completely viable fetus, about 7.5 months old. Gerardo Lozada insisted on examining the patient in the capital of Peru. All the necessary tests were done in Lima and the pregnancy was confirmed. After the publication of this fact, Lina Medina was invited to the largest scientific universities in the United States for additional research and observations. However, the supervising physician and the Association of Obstetricians of Peru insisted on placing the expectant mother in a maternity hospital to maintain the pregnancy and a successful delivery.

Amazing family

Lina Medina gave birth to a baby and officially received the title of the youngest mother in the world on May 14, 1939. She was five years, seven months and twenty-one days old at the time. The male child was born as a result of a planned caesarean section. The doctors did not even think about natural childbirth, since the girl's pelvis was too small. At birth, the baby weighed 2.7 kg, and his height was 48 cm. The child did not have any developmental abnormalities or serious pathologies. The newborn was named after the gynecologist who observed the pregnancy of a young mother - Gerardo.

Lina Medina had a great surgery. Despite the absence of he alth problems, the youngest mother in the world and her baby were detained at the medical center for another 11 months for a variety of examinations and the exclusion of hidden pathologies. After being discharged, Lina and Gerardo returned to their native village. Remarkably, the youngest member of the family did not know the secret of his birth until the age of 10. Gerardo was brought up as Lina's brother, and only at a conscious age did he learn the truth. How he reacted to this is unknown.

Who is the father of the baby of the youngest mother in the world?

The pregnancy of a five-year-old girl caused a huge public outcry not only in Peru, but throughout the world. Everyone was interested in two questions: is it possible at this age to endure and give birth to a he althy child and who is the biological father of the baby? Initially, the police detained the father of the girl herself. Tiburcio Medina pleaded not guilty, and no evidence incriminating him could be collected. As a result, the young grandfather was officially acquitted and sent home. The next under suspicion was the mentally retarded brother of the girl. But his involvement in the incident could not be proven. The young mother Lina Medina herself did not report anything about the unusual events that preceded the onset of her pregnancy. Since the method of determining paternity by DNA was discovered only in 1944, the secret of the birth of Gerardo Medina remained unsolved.

Life after an unusual record

Lina Medina's case is still being investigated by medical students around the world. But, despite such wide popularity, the main character of the story did not receive any material benefits. On the contrary, the family tried to return to normal life as soon as possible. Communication with journalists, the youngest mother in the world and her family tried to avoid. And the specialists who observed the girl gave only brief general comments. It is worth noting that everything that happened did not harm the girl's psyche at all. Already six months after her early birth, the young mother was a completely ordinary child, developed no worse than her peers, she enjoyed playing with dolls and other toys.

The biography of Lina Medina is quite ordinary for her time. After receiving her education, the girl worked as a secretary in a medical clinic. Then she got married and only in 1972 gave birth to a second child, also a son. With her husband, Lina moved to the capital of Peru, where she still lives. Gerardo Medina grew and developed like any ordinary child. He lived to the age of 40 and died of a bone marrow disease.

Newspaper publications and authentic photographs

As soon as the story of Lina Medina became public, many media outlets expressed a desire to communicate with the girl and her family. There was even a production company from the USA, ready to buy the video rights of a young mother for $5,000. However, such attention seemed inappropriate to the representatives of the girl, they agreed only to conduct medical examinations and photograph the doctors. PhotoLina was personally supervised by Dr. Gerardo Lozada. At the same time, most of the materials disappeared as a result of an accident - the suitcase containing the images fell into the river during a doctor's visit to the patient's home village. To date, two photographs are recognized as authentic: one shows the pregnant Lina (April 1939), and the other shows her with the eleven-month-old Gerardo (1940). All other pictures cannot be called authentic with certainty, the main character of the story does not communicate with journalists until now.