Lina Medina
Youngest confirmed mother in history, gave birth at age five.
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Lina Marcela Medina de Jurado is the youngest confirmed mother in history, having given birth at age five years, seven months, and 21 days.[1][2] Her pregnancy was biologically possible due to precocious puberty.[1][3]
Key facts and history
When Lina was five years old, her parents brought her to a Pisco hospital because her abdomen was growing larger, and the initial medical suspicion was a tumor.[4][2] On 14 May 1939, Lina delivered a son named Gerardo via caesarean section, a procedure required because her pelvis was too small.[5][6][2] At birth, Gerardo had a weight of 2.7 kg and received his name in honor of Lina's physician.[5][3] Gerardo grew up thinking Medina was his sibling until he discovered the truth when he turned ten.[5][2]
What the cited sources add
Edmundo Escomel reported her case in La Presse Médicale, noting her menarche occurred at eight months of age.[6][2] Escomel's final report included a biopsy showing Lina had the ovaries of a fully mature woman.[2] A United Press report noted Dr. Hipolito Larrabure said Lina withstood the caesarean operation in excellent manner.[2] The San Antonio Light reported in 1939 that a Peruvian obstetrician association demanded she be admitted to a national maternity hospital.[7]
The same article noted an American film studio offered $5,000 for filming rights, which was rejected.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Lina Medina" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mikkleson, "Youngest Mother", Snopes, 7 February 2015; Mikkleson, "Youngest Mother", Snopes, 7 February 2015; "Six decades later, world's youngest mother awaits aid", The Telegraph, 27 August 2002; "Raped 5 year-old Peruvian is world's youngest mum", P.M. News, 2 July 2020 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Mikkleson, "Youngest Mother", Snopes, 7 February 2015. facts only, no text reused. snopes.com
- "Raped 5 year-old Peruvian is world's youngest mum", P.M. News, 2 July 2020. facts only, no text reused. pmnewsnigeria.com
- Wikipedia, "Lina Medina" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "5-Year-Old Gives Birth: 14 May 1939", History Channel Australia (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lina Medina" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mikkleson, "Youngest Mother", Snopes, 7 February 2015 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lina Medina" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Six decades later, world's youngest mother awaits aid", The Telegraph, 27 August 2002; Mikkleson, "Youngest Mother", Snopes, 7 February 2015; "The Curse: A Cultural History of Menstruation", University of Illinois Press, 1988, p. 51; Rodney P. Shearman, "Clinical reproductive endocrinology", Churchill Livingstone, 1985, p. 401; "Six decades later, world's youngest mother awaits aid", The Telegraph, 27 August 2002 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lina Medina" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Elgar Brown (for Chicago Evening American). "Wide sympathy aroused by plight of child-mother: opportunity seen to make Lina independent". San Antonio Light, 16 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Lina Medina (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Lina Medina (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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