Currently, the oldest mother is an Indian woman, Erramatti Mangamma. She gave birth at the age of 74 and was fertilized using the in vitro method. And although the whole situation caused a lot of controversy, getting pregnant was still her conscious decision. Unfortunately, the youngest mother in history could not say the same.
Lina Marcela Medina was born on September 23, 1933 in Ticrapo, Peru. She was one of the nine children of Victoria Lose and the goldsmith Tiburelo Medina. When she turned five and six months old, her parents were concerned that Lina's stomach suddenly began to grow unnaturally.
Suspecting a more serious illness, they first sought advice from a local shaman. This one, after examining the girl, suggested that she probably suffers from some type of tumor and should seek medical advice .
So the little girl was taken to a hospital in Pisco. There, too, it was discovered at first glance that a tumor had appeared in the girl's abdomen. However, after more detailed research, Dr. Gerardo Lozada made a surprising and very terrifying diagnosis - Lina was seven months pregnant.
The youngest mother in the history of medicine
This statement caused quite a stir and disbelief. After all, it is impossible for a five-year-old to be with hope. How could this happen? In order to solve this frightening mystery, Lina was taken to a hospital in Lima and subjected to specialist examination, which allowed to shed more light on her case.
Detailed diagnostics allowed to establish that the girl probably became pregnant at the age of four and ten months. Fertilization was possible at all because Lina suffered from premature puberty syndrome . The patient's condition began to develop very early. Doctors established that the girl had regular periods before the age of three, and the first bleeding appeared when she was eight months old. Additionally, Lina showed other syndromes of the disease, such as fully developed breasts.
The baby was born in Lima
A few weeks after the diagnosis, on May 14, 1939, Lina gave birth to a healthy son weighing 2.7 kg . The delivery was by caesarean section and the boy was named Gerardo after the doctor who first correctly diagnosed the girl.
A medical curiosity about a dark genesis
The case of Lina Medina echoed not only in Peru, but also outside its borders. The youngest mother was visited by Polish and foreign doctors and midwives. Her case was widely discussed during scientific lectures at the Peruvian National Medical Academy and in the pages of many trade magazines. Filmmakers in the United States wanted to make a documentary about the Lines in return for a five-thousand-dollar financial support for a mother and child. However, the offer was rejected.
Unfortunately, there was one more question that was not answered by time. It was about the identity of little Gerard's father. The police tried to find the perpetrator of the attack on Lina, but the girl never revealed his name .
Lina Medina, Dr. Gerardo Lozada, and baby Gerardito Medina, 1941
The officers first suspected her father, then her brother, and then also her uncle. The truth, however, never saw the light of day. As a result, many rumors and urban legends grew around the case, among which, apart from rape and an incestuous relationship, there were tales of religious ceremonies aimed at fertilizing the girl.
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One of many…
And what was the fate of the youngest known mother in the history of medicine and her firstborn? For the next ten years, Lina's son was raised by the girl's parents ignorant of his mother's true identity. The boy was convinced that she was simply his older sister . Only later did he find out the truth.
As for Lina herself, the years passed and she tried to stay away from newspapers and television. She avoided publicity, refusing all interviews. Under Dr. Lozada's protection, she graduated from school and was hired as a secretary at his clinic in Lima. In 1972, she married Raúl Jurado, to whom she gave birth to her second son. The woman still lives on the outskirts of the Peruvian capital.
Lina Medina with her son Gerardo and during pregnancy
The doctor also took care of the proper education of Lina's son, whom he helped to come into the world. Unfortunately, his fate was not very happy. Gerardo died at the age of forty of a rare bone marrow disease .
The sad conclusion to this story was that the extraordinary case of Lina Medina was no exception. Behind it were the stories of many other Peruvian underage girls who were sexually abused from an early age by fathers, uncles, brothers, neighbors or other men more or less known to them.
Eighteen years after Lina's cesarean section in Lima, her daughter was born to nine-year-old Hilda Trujillo. The midwife at the surgery admitted that the rape of the minor was not unusual . During his thirty-year career, apart from Trujillo and Medina, he assisted in two other deliveries of girls under the age of 11.