Lina Medina of Peru set a new record in 1939 when, at age five, she gave birth to a son she called Gerardo and became the youngest mother in the world.
A family in a small Peruvian town in the early spring of 1939 discovered their 5-year-old daughter had a large belly. Tiburelo Medina and Victoria Losea, worried that their daughter’s swelling was a tumour, took her to a doctor in Lima from their home in Ticrapo.
Lina Medina’s parents were shocked when the doctor informed them that their daughter was seven months pregnant. A healthy son was born to Medina on May 14th, 1939, via C-section. She gave birth at the age of five years, seven months, and 21 days, making her the youngest mother in the world.
Even though Medina and her family did not seek it out, their story became viral throughout the world when it caught the attention of paediatricians. Medina has never revealed the father’s identity to police, and she and her family continue to avoid the spotlight and any chance of giving an in-depth interview.
There is still a lot we don’t know about Lina Medina, the youngest mother in the world and how she became pregnant or who the father could be, but we’re getting closer.
A Clear Case Of Precocious Puberty
Precocious puberty is defined as the beginning of puberty prior to the typical age (age 8 in girls and age 9 in boys). Bones and muscles expand rapidly, the body reshapes itself, and the reproductive system matures during puberty. The youngest mother in the world probably suffered from this medical anomaly.
Lina Medina born on September 23, 1933, in a remote, impoverished region of Peru was one of nine children . Her family, friends, and the public were all shaken up by the news of her pregnancy because of how young she was. However, p ediatric endocrinologists weren’t shocked by the possibility that a youngster as young as 5 could become pregnant.
Symptoms of this disorder in boys typically include a lower vocal pitch, larger than normal genitalia, and increased hair growth on the face. In most cases, girls with this disorder experience the onset of menstruation and breast development before their peers. About 1 in 10,000 kids have this disorder. About ten times as many females as boys go through this path of development.
Precocious puberty often has no apparent cause. Nonetheless, new research has shown that sexually abused young girls may reach puberty earlier than their peers. Some people believe that having intercourse at a young age can hasten puberty in preteens.
Dr. Edmundo Escomel revealed in a medical publication that Lina Medina had her first period when she was just eight months old. Other sources, however, stated that she started menstruation at the tender age of 3. One way or another, it was an ungodly time to start.
Medina, age 5, was found to have accelerated (post-pubescent) bone growth, breast development, and wider-than-normal hips.
However, despite the fact that her body was maturing ahead of schedule, she was still very obviously a child.
Who Was The Father Of Lina Medina’s Baby?
Medina hid the identity of the child’s father from the authorities. Possibly not even she knew, which is sad.
The fact that Lina Medina became pregnant at such a young age can be explained, at least in part, by her precocious puberty. Of course, though, it can’t possibly cover every possible scenario.
Because, let’s face it, someone else had to get her pregnant. Unfortunately, given the odds of 100,000 to 1, it was probably not a little child who suffered from the same illness as she did.
Medina kept the identity of the father and the details of the attack that led to her pregnancy a secret from her doctors and the authorities. But because of her tender age, it’s possible she didn’t even recognise who the person was.
Dr. Escomel claimed she “couldn’t give accurate responses” when asked about the father.
Tiburelo, a local silversmith and Medina’s father, was briefly detained on suspicion of raping his daughter. When no proof or witness statements were produced to incriminate him, however, he was released and the accusations were dismissed. Tiburelo, for his part, has denied he ever sexually assaulted his daughter.
Years after her child was born, some media outlets reported that Medina may have been attacked at some sort of celebration close to her town. Unfortunately, this was never confirmed.
What does the youngest mother in the world have to say about this?
Lina Medina and her family disappeared from public view shortly after the birth of their child.
When news of Lina Medina’s pregnancy spread, it drew interest from all across the globe.
Peruvian newspapers made a failed offer to the Medina family totaling thousands of dollars for the rights to interview and film Lina. At the same time, American newspapers covered the issue extensively and even attempted to contact the world’s youngest mother.
Some others even offered to pay the family to relocate to the United States. The Medina family, however, has declined to comment publicly.
Given the unbelievable nature of Medina’s condition and her dislike of attention, it’s not surprising that some people have accused her family of making up the whole thing.
Because of the passage of almost eighty years, this is highly improbable at this point. Medical documents from the time provide ample documentation of Medina’s condition during pregnancy, and neither she nor her family have attempted to profit from the story.
Only two photos exist of Medina in her pregnancy. And only one of those was ever shared with the world at large; a grainy profile shot that appeared in a scientific journal.
In addition to X-rays of her belly showing the clearly formed bones of a developing foetus within her body, her case file contains multiple accounts by doctors who treated her. Her pregnancy was also verified by blood tests. Also, there were no problems with the publication process or peer review for any of the studies that appeared in the literature.
Although Medina has been approached numerous times for an interview, she has always declined. Throughout the rest of her life, she steadfastly refused to participate in any form of media attention, including giving interviews to national or even local publications.
It appears that Medina’s fear of public attention persists to this day.
“She thinks of the child as a baby brother and so does the rest of the family”.
Where is Lina Medina Now?
According to the book written by an obstetrician named Jose Sandoval about the Medina case, Medina frequently chose to play with her dolls than than her infant.(Btw, doll reminds me of the haunted Robert Doll) When Gerardo Medina was little, he thought his older sister’s name was Medina. When he was approximately 10 years old, he learned the truth.
Gerardo Medina enjoyed good health for the majority of his life, but he passed away at the young age of 40 in 1979. Bone disease was the ultimate killer.
Whether or not Lina Medina is still alive now is unknown. She went on to lead a somewhat unremarkable life in Peru after her surprising pregnancy.
As a young adult, she worked as a secretary for the attending physician to help fund her education. Lina also paid for Gerardo’s education at about the same time.
She was in her 30s when she had her second son with husband Ral Jurado. Medina and Jurado were still married and living together in a slum area of Lima in 2002.
It may be for the best that Lina Medina’s life remains secret, given her lifelong attitude toward fame and the interested eyes of inquiring strangers towards history’s youngest person to give birth. She would be in her late 80s at this point if she were still living.