Lina
Medina is the youngest confirmed mother in medical history, giving birth at the
age of five years, seven months and 17 days. She currently lives in Lima, the
capital of Peru.
Medina was brought to a hospital by her parents at the age of five years due to increasing abdominal size. She was originally thought to have had a tumor, but her doctors determined she was in her seventh month of pregnancy. Dr. Gerardo Lozada took her to Lima, Peru, before the surgery to have other specialists confirm that Medina was pregnant.
Medina was brought to a hospital by her parents at the age of five years due to increasing abdominal size. She was originally thought to have had a tumor, but her doctors determined she was in her seventh month of pregnancy. Dr. Gerardo Lozada took her to Lima, Peru, before the surgery to have other specialists confirm that Medina was pregnant.
Medina's
son weighed 2.7 kg at birth and was named Gerardo after her doctor. Gerardo was
raised believing that Medina was his sister, but found out at the age of 10
that she was his mother. He grew up healthy but died in 1979 at the age of 40
of a bone marrow disease.
Later life: Medina has never revealed the father of the child nor the circumstances of her impregnation. Dr. Escomel suggested she might not actually know herself by writing that Medina "couldn't give precise responses".
Later life: Medina has never revealed the father of the child nor the circumstances of her impregnation. Dr. Escomel suggested she might not actually know herself by writing that Medina "couldn't give precise responses".
Although
Lina's father was arrested on suspicion of child sexual abuse, he was later
released due to lack of evidence, and the biological father who impregnated
Lina was never identified. Additionally, there was no explanation of how a
five-year-old girl could conceive a child.
In young adulthood, she worked as a secretary in the Lima clinic of Dr. Lozada, who gave her an education and helped put her son through high school. Medina later married Raúl Jurado, who fathered her second son in 1972. As of 2002, they lived in a poor district of Lima known as "Chicago Chico" ("Little Chicago"). She refused an interview with Reuters that year,just as she had turned away many reporters in years past.
In young adulthood, she worked as a secretary in the Lima clinic of Dr. Lozada, who gave her an education and helped put her son through high school. Medina later married Raúl Jurado, who fathered her second son in 1972. As of 2002, they lived in a poor district of Lima known as "Chicago Chico" ("Little Chicago"). She refused an interview with Reuters that year,just as she had turned away many reporters in years past.
Source: Knowledge Bank
