The world's youngest mother - a medical mystery for nearly 80 years

Thuy Quynh• September 24, 2018 16:11

In 1939, a 5-year-old girl named Lina Medina gave birth to a healthy baby boy that shocked the world.

Lina Medina was born in a remote village in Peru. According toAllthatsinterestingWhen Lina was 5 years old, her parents noticed that her belly was unusually large. Worried that it might be a tumor, the family took their daughter to the doctor. The doctors' diagnosis left everyone stunned.

Dr. Gerardo Lozada, who examined the girl, diagnosed Lina as being 7 months pregnant. However, the doctor himself was confused about his results, so he sent the girl to see other specialists. Incredibly, they all came to the same conclusion: Lina was pregnant. What was recorded was the girl's medical records, with a photo of Lina when she was pregnant and a clear film of a developing fetus inside her body.

Lina Medina got pregnant at the age of 5. Photo:Allthatsinteresting

Subsequent analysis revealed that Lina may have begun ovulating as early as eight months and had regular periods by the age of three. She had signs of breast development and pelvic widening by the age of five. By the time Lina Medina became pregnant, her body had developed to the point of being almost that of an adult woman.


Lina's father was arrested on suspicion of incest and child abuse. He was later released due to lack of evidence. One of Lina's siblings was also placed under surveillance but there was no indication that he was the father.

The world's youngest mother at 80 years old is a medical mystery

According to researchers, Lina’s case is called “precocious puberty”. About one in 10,000 children have this condition. Children can reach puberty before the age of 8. Girls are more likely to experience puberty early than boys. This may partly explain why Lina became pregnant, but according to researchers, her case is still very mysterious because the rate of someone having menstruation at the age of 3 and getting pregnant at the age of 5 is very unlikely.


Lina Medina gave birth to a baby boy weighing 2.7 kg and named Gerardo Medina. The boy was raised as Lina's younger brother and always thought she was his older sister. It was not until he was 10 years old that Gerardo learned that Lina was his mother.

Gerardo Medina grew up healthy and normal. At the age of 33, Lina married Raul Jurado. In 1979, Gerardo died of bone marrow disease at the age of 40, while Lina continued to live with her husband in a poor district in Peru. She always refused to share information about her life, deciding to keep the secret of her son's father to herself until the end of her life.

Image:Allthatsinteresting

Since then, Lina Medina has been considered the youngest mother in the history of world medicine. Several organizations and research facilities have tried to approach to learn about the case of Lina and her son, but her parents refused. To date, only a few photos believed to have been taken of Medina while she was pregnant have been published outside of medical literature.

In an article about the incident published in October 1955, author Luis Leon said that many villages in Peru regularly held religious festivals. Participants included group sex and rape.

Thuy Quynh