World’s Youngest Mother, Gave Birth at just 5 Years old

World’s Youngest Mother, Gave Birth at just 5 Years old

A Child gave birth to a Child

Image Source: Wikimedia commons

In 1939, a 5 year old girl had an enlarged belly, that girl was Lina Madina. Her parents Tiburelo Medina and Victoria Losea thought it was a Tumor so they sent her to a nearby hospital. When the doctor examined the young girl, he discovered that Lina was 7 months pregnant, her parents were shocked.

How can a 5-year-old girl give birth?

Image Source: Wikimedia commons

The doctor noticed that Lina had wider-than-normal hips and other body features found in women. Girls below the age of 9 years can’t give birth because they haven’t reached puberty yet, but there are exceptions. In rare cases young girls and boys as young as 3 years can develop a condition called Precocious Puberty. Early signs are enlarged testicles, deep voice, and facial hair in boys, while girls develop breasts, wide hips, and have periods. 1 in 100,000 kids have Precocious Puberty, so it’s an extremely rare condition.

Who was the father?

Image Source: Wikimedia commons

Lina Madina gave birth to a healthy boy called Gerardo Madina, they named him after the doctor who first examined Linda. The big question is Who’s the father, well Police suspected the worst, they thought it might have been Lina’s father, they arrested Tiburelo Medina. The investigators couldn’t fined evidence, there were no witnesses, so Tiburelo was later released. When Dr Escomel questioned Lina about the pregnancy she didn’t give precise responses, she was probably too young to even know who assualted her, it definitely wasn’t a young boy given how rare puberty is in her age group.

International reaction

As you can imagine, the story of a 5 year old girl giving birth spread like COVID 19 in the western world. Lina Medina’s case was all over American and European newspapers. The Peruvian press offered the Medina family thousands of dollars for an exclusive interview and filming, while the Americans offered them an all expense paid trip to the U.S. but the family declined all the offers, they just wanted privacy. They were stalked by the praying eyes of the media for years.

Where’s Lina Madina today?

Sadly Lina’s child Gerardo passed away in 1979 at the young age of 40, the cause was bone disease. Lina Madina married a man called Raúl Jurado in the early 1970s, she gave birth to her second child when she was in her 30s. The family lives a simple life in a poor village in Peru. It’s not known if Lina is still alive.

Spending time with family is more important than fame and money.