Now she is considered the largest living mother in the world. The record of our compatriot, who gave birth to 69 babies, has not yet been broken.
One child in a family is not enough, it seems. Two are fine. Three – well, that’s it, no more. Four – well, you guys give! Five is already a mother-heroine and a reason to retire early. And if there are 44 children? ..
Yes, sometime in the primeval times, a Russian woman by the name of Vasiliev (unfortunately, history has not preserved the name of this Russian woman) gave birth to 69 children. Four times she gave birth to quadruplets, seven times – triplets, 16 times – twins and another 27 times, one child each. But there is an explanation for this: few people heard about protection a century ago. And half a century ago, contraceptives were also rare. Plus extraordinary fertility, and even religious considerations … But now, in the modern world to give birth as a matter of routine – what can push this?
Never mind. It just happened. 41-year-old Mariam Nabatantsi lives in Uganda. Poor African country, medieval traditions. Mariam was married when she was only 12 years old. A 40-year-old man was assigned to the girl’s husband. Was she ready for adulthood? No, it wasn’t.
“They just gave me to him,” she said. – It is not known what would be worse – to stay in the parental home or get married. The stepmother tried to kill us by sprinkling broken glass into our food. I’m lucky to be alive. I was visiting relatives that day, and all four of my older brothers and sisters died at her hands. And my husband constantly beat me. If he ever appeared at home. “
Mariam gave birth to her first pair of twins a year after marriage, at the age of 13. Two years later, triplets were born. Then – fours. By the age of 39, she had given birth to twins six times, triplets four times, and four more times were born fours. The rest of the babies were born “solo”.
“My husband was the kind of father who gives names to children over the phone. He wasn’t interested in upbringing at all, ”says Mariam.
After the sixth birth, the woman already had 18 children. She didn’t want to give birth anymore. Moreover, they had to be brought up alone. It’s quite difficult to raise one here, but 18?
“I asked the doctors to sterilize me. But they refused, they said that it was too early, that I shouldn’t do it, ”Mariam shrugs.
She tried to protect herself. But due to a rare genetic disorder to which she owed her extraordinary fertility, she was not allowed to take hormone pills. Mariam’s husband did not use condoms. The unhappy woman over and over again became pregnant and gave birth. Moreover, she gave birth to all the babies naturally, only the last time she had a cesarean. Pregnancies have always proceeded normally, too, without any complications.
By the age of 36, Mariam had 44 children. Six died shortly after giving birth. But the rest of the crowd – 38 children – somehow had to be brought up. And you know, these kids don’t look sick, wretched, or unhappy at all. Like Mariam herself. Let the father of the children no longer appear in their lives, it only makes her better. Moreover, the doctors once again refused to do sterilization.
“This insane fertility … No one can explain why this is so, where did this disease come from?” Mariam.
Eventually, this situation attracted media attention. And one of the journalists even announced a collection of donations to help Mariam and her children. We managed to collect not very much – about 8 thousand pounds. But for a poor African family, this is a lot of money.
“Thank you. And take care of your children. Men should not forget about their sons and daughters. Having children is a shared responsibility, ”said Mariam when she had the opportunity to address the general public.
Now Mariam works as a hairdresser, arranges events, makes collections from medicinal herbs, even collects scrap metal – she takes on any work that will help support her family. On the walls of her wretched house there are proudly hanging photographs of children who nevertheless managed to graduate from school. Mariam is sure that her kids will have everything that she was deprived of. And education is indispensable here.
“I feel really sorry for my mother. She is so killed at her work … We are all helping in any way we can. It is simply impossible to be responsible for our large family alone, ”says 24-year-old daughter Mariam.
Most of the money Mariam earns goes to food, clothing, medical care and education for the children. And she somehow manages to keep a roof over their heads for them – alone!