Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
A five-year-old who became the youngest confirmed mother in history when she gave birth to a baby boy sadly went on to live a tragic life.
Lina Medina was living in a remote Peruvian village with her parents in 1939 when they noticed the young girl’s belly had started to swell.
Considering Lina had only been alive for five years herself, her parents initially feared the swelling could be the result of a tumor, and rushed her to see a doctor, Dr Gérado Lozada, in Lima.
Much to her parents’ shock, the doctor revealed that Lina was actually seven months pregnant.
On May 14, 1939, the little girl gave birth via C-section to a healthy baby boy, officially making her the youngest mother in the world at five years, seven months, and 21 days old.
The baby boy was named Gerado, in honor of the doctor who took care of Lina’s extremely unusual situation.
Naturally Lina’s case garnered a lot of attention, but the family shied away from the spotlight and Lina shared no details on who the father of the baby could be.
Lina went on to marry a man named Raul Jurado, and she had another son in 1972. However, her life took a tragic turn just years later when her firstborn son passed away from bone disease in 1979.
Speaking when Lina was 68 years old, Raul told Telegraph India Lina was living in a ‘cramped house in a poor, crime-ridden district’ in Peru.
There is still a lot of mystery surrounding the case, but medics have been able to offer insight as to how Lina could have given birth at such a young age.
After looking into Lina’s case, it was determined that Lina had a rare condition called precocious puberty – a disorder which sees a child experience puberty at an abnormally young age.
Lina was said to have started her periods years before giving birth, with her mother saying she was menstruating by the time she was three years old.
The rare condition also meant Lina had developed adult sexual organs as a toddler, which made her physically able to conceive a child despite only being a little girl herself.
Sadly, this condition resulted in Lina becoming pregnant after she was assaulted.
Initially, authorities believed Lina’s tragic case was a result of incest and their suspicions turned to her father, Tilburelo, who was arrested and charged with sexual assault. However, the man was subsequently released over a lack of evidence.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.
