I’ve come across many tales about young moms throughout the years. However, stories like this one show that there are still many secrets about the human body. Even with all the scientific progress we’ve achieved, the human body can still catch us off guard.
Teenage pregnancy is a tough topic to discuss. However, it’s not as challenging as child pregnancy. Usually, child pregnancy happens because minors are taken advantage of, and the young mother is not ready to take on the responsibilities of being a parent.
So it’s hard to imagine what life was for Lina Medina, the youngest confirmed mother in medical history. She was only five years, seven months, and 21 days old when she gave birth to a son.
Still, the man who hurt the young girl never faced any consequences.
Lina Medina was born in 1933 in the poor, remote city of Ticrapo, Peru. She lived in cramped living quarters with her parents and eight siblings.
When Lina turned four, her dad saw something unusual: her belly began to swell up like a balloon.
Soon, everyone in town was buzzing about Lina’s big stomach, and many thought she might have a “demon” living inside her. Her dad even reached out to healers and shamans to find out how they could help get rid of it.
Lina’s family was really worried because nothing seemed to help her feel better. They started to think that maybe she had a tumor. So, they decided to take her to the hospital in the city of Pisco.
At the hospital, they met Dr. Gerardo Lozado. He was also concerned and thought Lina might have a tumor, just like her parents did.
However, as he examined her, he realized he was mistaken, and what he found out was unbelievable.
Lina was actually seven months pregnant!
The doctor was shocked and couldn’t believe it. He quickly called in some top specialists from Lima, the capital, and they confirmed what Dr. Lozado had figured out.
On May 14, 1939, when Lina was just five years old, she had a healthy baby through a Caesarean section. The baby weighed 6 pounds (2.7 kg) and measured 19 inches (48 cm) in length. They named him Gerardo to honor the doctor. according to the New York Post.
Lina’s pregnancy was a big deal and made headlines all over the globe. It was covered by many newspapers, including the New York Times in the U.S. and the Daily Telegraph in England. This news was featured right alongside stories about the battles of World War II.
Lina got a lot of chances to go to the United States with her son for medical tests. However, her parents said no, and the president of Peru at the time, Oscar Benavides, made a law to keep them safe from being taken advantage of for money. He also promised them a grant that would support them for their whole lives. Sadly, Lina never received any money at all.
No one could believe that such a young girl could be pregnant and actually give birth.
In her village, Lina was seen as a “virgin Mary.” Some people even thought her baby was the child of the sun god.
However, the authorities didn’t accept that story. They believed she might have been raped by her father. The police brought him in for questioning and held him in jail for a few days. But they couldn’t find any proof against him, so they let him go. After that, they started to look at one of her brothers, who had mental health issues.
Another lead took the police to the family gardener. He vanished completely when Lina’s pregnancy was confirmed.
Even now, 78 years later, the identity of the person responsible and the father of the child remains a mystery. Lina has never wanted to discuss it, even though the press keeps asking her about it.
A few years after her amazing birth, doctors in Peru found out that she had a very rare hormonal problem with her pituitary gland.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reported that Lina had her first period when she was just eight months old, and by the time she was four, she was already going through puberty. By the time she became a mother, Lina looked like a fully grown adult woman. She broke a world record that has only been equaled by a similar situation in Russia.
Lina clearly couldn’t look after her child, so Gerardo ended up living with his grandparents. For a long time, he believed that Lina, who played with the same toys, was actually his sister. It wasn’t until he turned 10 that Gerardo found out the real story about his mother.
Being a young mom was tough for Lina. Luckily, she had someone looking out for her: the doctor who helped bring her baby into the world. He eventually hired Lina to work as a secretary at his clinic. In the picture below, you can see grown-up Lina with her son.
Lina had to wait a long time before she became a mom again. When she turned 30, she married a man named Ricardo Jurado, and she had her second child at the age of 38.
Sadly, Lina’s son Gerardo passed away when he was 40 due to a bone marrow disease.
Lina and Ricardo moved to Mexico and lived there for several years before returning to Peru, where they settled in a rough area of Lima known as “Little Chicago.”
They built a house there, but in the 1980s, the government destroyed it to make space for a new highway.
Then, it seemed like luck was finally on Lina’s side. In 2002, a gynecologist named José Sandoval took an interest in her situation. He urged the government to give her the grant they had promised her when she was a child. Finally, Lina received the money.
Ricardo told the media that the constant attention from journalists over the years made Lina more of an introvert.
A 91-year-old woman has always been chased by the media, who are really interested in uncovering every tiny detail of her life.
However, Lina has never spoken out and has turned down every interview offer she’s gotten. Maybe that’s why the mystery of her pregnancy still surprises people even now.
I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for this girl to give birth and become a mother at that age.
It must have been so difficult—especially because, even after all these years, they’ve never caught the monster who did this to her!
Please share this story if it moved you as much as it moved me.