Today I learned that the youngest person on becoming pregnant and giving birth was only 5 years old!
Lina Medina was born on September 27, 1933 in Ticrapo, Peru. At 5 years old, his mother, Victoria, took her to a hospital because her stomach was getting bigger. Her parents originally thought Lina was possessed by evil spirits, but upon examination, Dr. Geraldo Lozada found that was about 8 months pregnant. A month and a half after his diagnosis, May 14, 1939, Lina gave birth by Caesarean section to a boy.
Lina was able to get pregnant at a young age due to a rare condition known as precocious puberty, basically, an early onset of sexual development. Most girls start showing signs of puberty around age 10. Most children tend to go through puberty begins around age 11-12. People with early puberty tend to start puberty around the age of 7 years. Surprisingly, according to his mother, Lina, however, they began to have menstrual cycles for 2 ½ years and breasts were developed four years. When doctors examined at 5 years, was found to have already fully mature sexual organs.
Lina Medina's son, Gerardo, was named after the doctor Lina and grew up believing that his mother was his sister. It was not until age 10 that he learned that his mother was. He died in 1979 at age 40 from a bone marrow disease. Lina never revealed the father of the child, nor the circumstances of her impregnation. According to a 1955 article reviewing the case, made by Luis Leon from the Associated Press, "Some said they had frequent festivals celebrated by Indians in Andean peoples as the birthplace Lina. These often ended in orgies that the violation was not uncommon ".
While this is not something you want to keep the record for many reasons, it seems that Lina is unlikely to lose this record in the short term (or one, at least I hope!) So, for now, the current record for the least of them to give birth to another human being is 5 years, 7 months and 17 days, which means you probably imbibed a month or two before their fifth birthday. Disturbing ...
Bonus Facts
-At age 70, Rajo Devi Lohan became the oldest person to give birth to a child. Eighteen months later, he announced that he was dying from complications of pregnancy.
-There are several theories as to the factors that may cause precocious puberty, such as increased caloric intake, foods high in artificial hormones, and environmental factors such as pesticides, such as DDT. More recently, researchers have identified a gene (a protein called GPR54) regulates puberty. Mutations in this gene have been shown to cause deflections in sexual development.
-Precocious puberty in children, defined as the development before age 9, is very rare (1 in 10,000 in the United States), but when it occurs is often associated with problems in the central nervous system, they need treatment .
-A study in Denmark from 1993-2001 showed that the incidence of precocious puberty in girls under two years of age was 0.5 per 10,000. From this first epidemiologic study based on national registries, it is estimated that 0.2% of all Danish girls and <0 .05="" danish="" development.="" early="" form="" had="" men="" of="" pubertal="" some="" span="">
-According to the American Medical Association, sexual violence and rape in particular, is considered the most violent crime reported.
-A 2007 government report in England says "Estimates from research suggest that between 75 and 95 percent of the crimes of rape are not reported to the police." The most common reasons given by victims for not reporting rapes are the belief that it is a personal and private matter and they fear retaliation from the abuser.
-It is estimated that a woman born in South Africa has a greater chance of being raped than learning to read. The South African Police Service admits that even though there is now a greater awareness of the problem, stricter penalties and better policing, the vast majority of rapes and attempted rape still go unreported and unpunished.
-Wednesday has more births on average than any other day of the week, 15.4% more than any other day. Sunday is the slowest day.
-C-sections account for 31.1% of all births in the United States, increased 50% in the last decade. The induced labor 22.5% of births in the U.S.