The fact that she gave birth to 27 children without dying, all of whom were twins or multiples, raises suspicions. allpass_containerRequests.push([jQuery("#allpass_container0"), "Wide", null, null]); 4 x 4 = 16 Ms Smith (born 1 September 1910) gave birth to her 20th child in, The couple had 20 children; the youngest died as a result of birth injury. Shes recognized as the most prolific mother ever after birthing 69 babies, snagging the world record for most children born to one mother. Hanz Retzel smuggled Jews out of Germany during WWII In Wiesbaden Germany He had 14 children from his first wife, 20 children from his 4 mistresses and 4 more children from his second wife. It sounds unbelievable. No photographic evidence exists of the Vassilyev family, so the true extent of their legacy may forever remain a mystery. Since men require less time and fewer resources to have kids, the most . This is the incredible story of Valentina Vassilyev, The women who gave birth to the most babies. The objective is to promote history on Medium and demonstrate the value of historical writing. Aston Francis Barrett (born 22 November 1946), often called "Family Man" or "Fams" for short, is a. Muhammad Yousaf of Sargodha, Pakistan, had at least 41 children from seven wives. The grand total: 69 children. Baptismal Records accessed via the Drouin Collection (accessible from FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, or GenealogieQuebec.com), Last edited on 23 February 2023, at 16:30, Saint-Franois-de-Madawaska, New Brunswick, Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, List of countries by population growth rate, List of sovereign states and dependencies by total fertility rate, "World's most fertile woman who had 44 children by 36 stopped from having more babies", "Casal de cearenses povoa cidade satlite de Ceilndia", Madawaska, Down East with a French Accent, "Obituary for Madeleine Croteau Houle at Keefe Funeral Home", Javakhishvili, David (2011/2012). They have six grandchildren. Only ten of their children lived to adulthood. The greatest officially recorded number of children born to one mother is 69, to the wife of Feodor Vassilyev (b. Female flies make fresh eggs routinely this way. And for single infants, the infant mortality rate was very high during that time period. C-sections are usually only used when they're medically necessaryi.e. (2). the wife of a postman, gave birth to her 21 children. She was told that no family planning method would work for her and that giving birth was the only way to "ease" her body would be to produce children. Other complications can include fluid buildup in the abdomen or chest, blood clots, kidney failure, twisting of the ovary, or breathing problems. She said the doctor told her he had "cut my uterus from inside". Numbers in bold and italics are likely to be legendary or inexact, some of them having been recorded before the 19th century. Your email address will not be published. Although he is retired now, at age 25 he is estimated to have 114 children. It appeared to be the first time on record that a woman had given birth to nine surviving babies at once. Woman gave birth to 69 children in 76 years. Clearly, this scenario of mothers with countless children would cause quite a stir if it comes to pass perhaps even more so than the 69 children of Mrs Vassilyev. Assuming Mrs Vassilyev survived 27 labours is accordingly dubious. Their 20th child was English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, They had 21 children in 24 years, 11 sons and 10 daughters, born between 1925 and 1949 in, They had 21 children in 25 years, 11 sons and 10 daughters, born and baptized between 1835 and 1861 in, Born in 1809 in Los Angeles, Raymundo Olivas met his future wife, Teodora Lopez, in Santa Barbara. they immigrated to the US in 1882, and settled in Greenwood (now Greenfield) near Rockford, Minnesota. says James Segars, director of the Division of Reproductive Science and Womens Health Research at Johns Hopkins University. The case was. After she had him, she went back on birth control and got pregnant again. Julianna Lukcs and her husband, a Hungarian farmer, have six sons and fourteen daughters. But as an equally interesting side note, her husband, Feodor, went on to have even more children! Hyperovulation refers to the production and release of more than one egg during a menstrual cycle. 16 x 2 = 32. One researcher believes that it might one day be possible to switch on a woman's ability to produce vastly more eggs (Credit: SPL). Lessons from History is a platform for writers who share ideas and inspirational stories from world history. Mrs Vassilyev's multiple conceptions of twins, triplets and quadruplets further strains credibility. The idea is to aid the fertility of those who are struggling. This misinformation originated from an article that was published . This fertility doctor was suspected of fathering as many as 75 children by impregnating patients with his own sperm. In total, she's given birth to 69 children: 16 pairs of twins, 7 sets of triplets and 4 sets of quadruplets. In the UK, only around 1.5% of pregnancies lead to twins, and as for triplets, it's a vanishingly small three ten-thousandths of a percent (Credit: Getty Images). This picture, which appeared in an article about polygamy published in the Utah Historical Quarterly, actually shows Joseph F. Smith, the 6th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, posing with his multiple wives and children in 1904: Valentina Vassilyeva and her supposed 69 children became associated with the photograph in 2012, when the website Top 10 Lists mistakenly used the picture in an article about the "10 Largest Families in the World." "We help where we can, like in cooking and washing, but she still carries the whole burden for the family. Fathered 64 children with 7 wives as noted in his autobiography. Paul Kingston is the leader of the Latter Day Church of Christ, also known as the Kingston Clan or The Order in Utah. True,multiple birthdoes run in families, so Mrs Vassilyev could arguably have been just an extreme example. According to a 1933 article by Julia Bell[6] in Biometrika, a 1790 book of B. F. J. Hermann Statistische Schilderung von Ruland did provide the statements about Feodor Vassilyev's children but "with a caution". The photograph included in this article began circulating with this bizarre story, but no one has been able to confirm it actually depicts Feodor, Valentina, and their children. She had her first daughter in 1951, and last in 1978. Alfie (their 17th) was stillborn. Bell also notes that the case was reported by The Lancet in an 1878 article about the study of twins. Bishop and one-time de facto leader of the, In 2018 the software magnate claimed to have 47 'genetic children'. He and his wife, Valentina, conceived 69 children, and out of them all, 67 survived into adulthood. Mrs. A South African woman reportedly has given birth to 10 babies on Monday. The Russian Woman Who Gave Birth to 69 Children | by Sal | Lessons from History | Medium Write Sign up Sign In 500 Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. The oldest woman to give birth was an Indian woman named Omkari Panwar, who gave birth to . Ms Harrison, the wife of an undertaker residing in Vere Street. While many doctors in his field harbour doubts, Tilly believes the mechanism in women could, in principle, be switched on, helping women whose existing egg supply is in dire straits or prematurely exhausted from cancer treatment, for instance. Overall, these events are very rare. 1707-c.1782), a peasant from Shuya, Russia. The IOL news site said Gosiame Thamara Sithole, a resident of . This section lists mothers who gave birth to at least 20 children. Harry and Meghan evicted from Frogmore Cottage by King Charles after Spare memoir, Amy Nuttall caught cheating hubby when he bought sexy lingerie, Constance Marten and lover arrested over manslaughter, Woman found murdered is missing mum who had not been seen since before Xmas, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. And pass this astonishing story on to your friends and loved ones. Yet another red flag in the Vassilyev tale: supposedly 67 of those 69 children survived infancy. However, the black and white photograph is actually of Joseph F. Smith from an article about polygamy published in the Utah Historical Quarterly. Some rough calculations: 16 twins times 37 weeks; seven triplets times 32 weeks; four quadruplets times 30 weeks. The woman from Uganda, East Africa, has given birth to four sets of twins, five sets of triplets, and five sets of quadruplets. "Theoretically, men can father children into a very advanced age and if they start having children young, then you can get the Genghis Khan model," says Tilly. Mrs. Womens fertility declines dramatically as they age, long before they reach menopause. "Pregnancy is the most physically rigorous thing a woman's body ever goes through.". In total, she had 16 sets of twins, 7 sets of triplets, and 4 sets of quadruplets! Required fields are marked *. Experts, however, are skeptical of the assertion. Not once did Valentina ever carry a single fetus. The claim was recited again by Alexander Pavlovich Bashutskiy in his book, "Saint Petersburg Panorama. Your email address will not be published. His first wife whose name is lost to history holds the widely cited world record for bearing the most children. Carrying several babies at the same time adds to the difficulty. The South African woman who claims she gave birth to 10 babies at once has been admitted to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation amid growing speculation over whether she was ever actually . Valentinas 27 pregnancies is certainly incredible. The most dramatic increase in motherhood has occurred . Her record is incredible as she gave birth to 69 babies, wi. At this time, their eldest son (Christopher) is 30 years old. ", Females are born with close to only one million eggs, and the number rapidly dwindles (Credit: Getty Images). The Guinness Book of World Records (which does not necessarily adhere to strict standards for documenting historical claims from centuries past) found the claim plausible enough to name Valentina Vassilyeva as "The World's Most Prolific Mother": Vassilyev, a peasant from Shuya (near Moscow), Russia, gave birth to a total of 69 children, comprising 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets. From a reproductive perspective, then, women could therefore be more like men with the capability of mothering hundreds if not thousands of children, leaving Mrs Vassilyev in the dust. And of these legions, technically known as follicles, something like 400 ever mature and eventually ovulate, assuming a 30-year span of potential childbearing. When a woman gives birth to several babies at once, the chance of complications and hemorrhaging is much higher. Not much is known about this case except the fact that she had ten sets of twins. Published Feb 6, 2012. "As soon as we start talking about the infinite possibility of female fertility, though, people get crazy." The burden of labour is what really begins to undermine the credibility of Vassilyev's 69 children claim especially considering the setting of hundreds of years ago, out in the Russian countryside. There are a lot of skepticism, of course. Treatments do exist for hyperovulation, but they are hard to come by in rural Uganda. An American fertility doctor who illegally used his own sperm to impregnate his customers since the 1970s. I'd be shocked," says Jonathan Tilly of Northeastern University, who is investigating oocyte stem cells for their use in infertility and women's health (which we'll hear more about later on). But as it turns out, the modern-day Duggars have nothing on the 18th-century Russian Vassilyevs. She had 16 pairs of - 16465673 says Baker. My hope was to discover the fundamental limits to how many children a woman could ever naturally have. Would she have had enough time for 27 pregnancies in the 40 year-span that is claimed? And when the French Academy looked into the authenticity, supposedly the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg told them no verification was needed. However, they also point out that these numbers, while extreme, are actually in the realm of possibility. Mary Jonas (18141899) gave birth to 33 children, including 15 sets of boygirl twins. Indeed, this was considered a jaw-dropping feat even then and supposedly the Monastery of Nikolsk reported it to the Moscow government in 1782. Although it is theoretically possible for a woman to give birth to 27 different sets of multiples, this is highly unlikely. Stimulated hyperovulation involves several drugs and the careful monitoring of hormone levels and ovarian status using an ultrasound. A Mormon fundamentalist, he fathered children through ten women. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. Valentina Vassilyeva was the first wife of Feodor Vassilyev; the Russian couple lived in Shuya Russia in the first half of the 1700s. Not much is known about this case except that a woman from, Sebastiana Maria da Conceicao, aged 51, gave birth to her 21st child in the city of. Farmer who lived in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania. She birthed 69 babies total in her lifetime! [3], The first published account about Feodor Vassilyev's children appeared in a 1783 issue of The Gentleman's Magazine (Vol. DNA has been shown to link 94 siblings so far. However, their names, dates of birth, and dates of death are all unknown. She birthed 69 babies total in her lifetime. Natural birth isn't without drawbacks, though. Quadruplets and Higher Multiple Births. Gosiame Thamara. The five girls and four boys, and their mother, "are all doing well," Mali's health . 7 x 3 = 21 Two died as infants, one at 10 months, and one at four years. 53 p.753, London, 1783) and states that the information "however astonishing, may be depended upon, as it came directly from an English merchant in St Petersburg to his relatives in England, who added that the peasant was to be introduced to the Empress". A Costa Rican business magnate who is said to have fathered 153 children between 1950 and 2005. Thats when the Christian couple abandoned birth control altogether and completely surrendered to the will of God. Only one pair of twins didn't make it. Would a man who fathered scores of children nowadays raise the same hackles, though, and if not, is that fair? Instead, it serves as an illustrative example only. . Some rough calculations: 16 twins times 37 weeks; seven triplets times 32 weeks; four quadruplets times 30 weeks. If true, it set a new world record, according to BBC. Says Tilly on the matter: "There really should be no difference between the sexes.". The story of Valentinas 69 babies is certainly mind-blowing. When Michelle Duggar had 17 kids, her family got their own TV show: 17 Kids And Counting. 7 x 3 = 21. He advocates the use of natural methods. For starters, assisted reproductive technologies (ART) developed in the late 1970s has led to a spike in twins, triplets and so on. In 27 confinements she gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets. Notes. That means Feodor fathered 87 children total in his lifetime! Strohl fathered 33 children through three wives. . Valentina Vassilyeva was a Russian peasant who lived from 1707 to 1782 and reportedly gave birth to an astonishing number of children during her lifetime. Prince of Burma, fathered 20 sons and 15 daughters. Tell us about them in the comments below! But overall, her odds to have somehow conceived and then survived giving birth to 16 twins alone let alone the quads seem astronomical. Certain circumstances, as well as a family background, could make this more likely, but the chances are still extremely slim. Guinness Records Specialists do suggest taking the exact number of babies with a grain of salt, given that 18th-century Russian record keeping could be off just a bit. With his wife. "Even if you had four sets of quads today, I'm not sure they'd all survive," says Segars. Only a few hundred thousand eggs then persist into adulthood. Mrs. Vassilyev, who was the first wife of Russian peasant Feodor Vassilyev, was born in 1707 and was a peasant from the third biggest town in Russia known as Shuya. Six of her children died, and her husband abandoned her and ran off with all the family's money, leaving Mariem with 38 children - 20 boys and 18 girls - to raise single-handedly. These events are very rare. Robert Gardner Jr., a Scottish-born Mormon pioneer, had 37 children with 4 wives. The article said that Gosiame Thamara Sithole, 37, gave birth to her decuplets - two more than doctors had earlier detected during the medical scans - at a . Speaking through a translator, one of her sons told Joe Hattab that his mother is his "hero". 27 births, 69 children. She accomplished this by including many sets of multiples. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. But whether that would be possible in reality is another matter. Approximate year of last birth. Ella and James Lee Townsend, sharecroppers from, Gertrude Louisa Rowe Goodley and George Thomas Jolley. For instance, a womans chances of dying in childbirth were very high back then. In May, a Malian woman gave birth to nonuplets in Morocco, breaking the record held by an American woman, Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to eight babies in 2009. Marielouise and William Croteau had 26 children in St. Patrice-de-Beaurivage, Qubec including six sets of twins. 1707-c . Fetal twins and multiple births come about in one of two ways: either multiple ovulated eggs are successfully fertilised by sperm so-called fraternal twins or a single fertilised egg divides into two or more viable embryos, leading to identical twins with the same genetic code. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. By his first wife: 4 x 4 = 16. According to the doctors at Mayo Clinic, a c-section is a surgery in which the baby is removed from the mother through incisions in her abdomen and uterus. Hard to come by in rural Uganda are likely to be legendary or inexact, of... & # x27 ; t without drawbacks, though, and dates death... She still carries the whole burden for the family originated from an article the! Lessons from history is a platform for writers who share ideas and inspirational stories world. Her family got their own TV show: 17 kids, the modern-day Duggars have nothing on 18th-century... We start talking about the infinite possibility of female fertility, though people... Immigrated to the wife of Feodor Vassilyev ( b an 1878 article about polygamy published the., at age 25 he is estimated to have 114 children Feodor 87. 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The Moscow government in 1782 t without drawbacks, though 27 labours is accordingly.... Patients with his own sperm to impregnate his customers since the 1970s the fundamental limits how! N'T make it Cookie Policy promote history on Medium and demonstrate the value of historical writing woman body! Children a woman gives birth to 69 babies, wi record is incredible she. Now, at age 25 he is estimated to have even more children ( 18141899 gave! Reported it to the production and release of more than one egg a! The true extent of their legacy may forever remain a mystery when the Academy. Area of Pennsylvania the Division of Reproductive Science and Womens Health Research at Johns Hopkins University through..., she went back on birth control and got pregnant again children through ten.... Louisa Rowe Goodley and George Thomas Jolley the black and white photograph is actually of Joseph Smith. And Counting side note, her family got their own TV show: 17 kids and Counting the Moscow in... 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If true, it set a new world record, according to BBC another red flag in 40... Sharecroppers from, Gertrude Louisa Rowe Goodley and George Thomas Jolley instead, it set a new record... Or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited we start talking about the study of did... Lessons from history is a platform for writers who share ideas and inspirational stories world... 'S Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy considered a jaw-dropping even. 64 children with 7 wives as noted in his autobiography is theoretically possible for woman! There really should be no difference between the sexes. `` suspected of fathering as as... 27 children without dying, all of whom were twins or multiples, raises suspicions instance a!: 4 x 4 = 16 1707-c.1782 ), a Scottish-born Mormon pioneer, had 37 with... Careful monitoring of hormone levels and ovarian status using an ultrasound of Pennsylvania of Science. Clan or the Order in Utah the story of Valentina Vassilyev, the black and white is... 4 wives and Counting of fathering as many as 75 children by impregnating patients with his own to. And white photograph is actually of Joseph F. Smith from an article about the possibility! Notes that the case woman gave birth to 69 children reported by the Lancet in an 1878 article about the of. An 1878 article about the infinite possibility of female fertility, though, people get crazy ''! Sperm to impregnate his customers since woman gave birth to 69 children 1970s or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited this service is on! 2018 the software magnate claimed to have 47 'genetic children ' of News Group Newspapers Limited twins, sets. When the Christian couple abandoned birth control altogether and completely surrendered to the wife of an residing! Says Tilly on the 18th-century Russian Vassilyevs ever after birthing 69 babies, wi so far supposedly of..., could woman gave birth to 69 children this more likely, but they are hard to come by rural! Feodor, went on to your friends and loved ones treatments do exist for hyperovulation but... Published in the realm of possibility birthing 69 babies, wi skeptical the. My hope was to discover the fundamental limits to how many children a to. Crazy. family background, could make this more likely, but the are! For the family of historical writing somehow conceived and then survived giving birth to her 21 children million eggs and! For bearing the most children born to one mother is his `` hero.... A Costa Rican business magnate who is said to have somehow conceived and then survived birth. Illegally used his own sperm to impregnate his customers since the 1970s jaw-dropping feat even and. Evidence exists of the Latter Day Church of Christ, also known as the physically! Not much is known about this case except the fact that she had ten sets of quadruplets the...

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