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. Multiple twins or triplets could in principle allow for high numbers of children, but the health risks are great (Credit: SPL). "Nature would want to make limits," says Baker. First, lets consider the mathematics of the Vassilyev report. In any case, Im confident that any woman reading this would agree with me that giving birth 27 times and having 69 children is much too many.Mrs. She told Joe Hattab that a "kind woman" had donated some bunk beds for her children after her husband left her, but it can still get pretty cramped, with 12 in one room sleeping two to a mattress. And if Mrs Vassilyev were breastfeeding, as might be expected for a peasant who could not afford to keep wet nurses about, her body would not ovulate. She is known to give birth to 69 children over her lifetime. Hyperovulation can occur naturally or be stimulated via hormone treatments for the purposes of egg donation in third-party reproduction. Pregnancy and childbirth are, in reality, the most physically demanding experiences a woman can have. Another aspect that seems improbable is the number of children who managed to live. By the end of the decade, 539 American children had been born to mothers over the age of 50, including 194 infants to women over the age of 55. As women get older, egg quantity and quality diminish. Since men require less time and fewer resources to have kids, the most . Juan Vicente Gomez was the dictator of Venezuela from 1908 to 1935. One study estimated a woman can have around 15-30 children in a lifetime, taking pregnancy and recovery time into account. The Welsh painter is widely reported to have fathered 'up to 100 children', mostly outside marriage, although some believe that this figure is greatly exaggerated. Assuming Mrs Vassilyev survived 27 labours is accordingly dubious. Lessons from History is a platform for writers who share ideas and inspirational stories from world history. Facebook page "Sarcasm World" posted the photo with the caption, "The record for most babies born to one woman is 69. 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." Finally, theres one question that beggars belief: what woman would want to do this? Amazingly, 67 of her children survived infancy, which was a remarkable rate for the day. She died on 30 January 1790, in Oldtown, Maryland, at the age of 58, and was buried there. Quadruplets and Higher Multiple Births. Asher was the keeper of the first toll-gate in Kentucky, near Pineville. This fertility doctor was suspected of fathering as many as 75 children by impregnating patients with his own sperm. Early Mormon leader who fathered 30 children with 9 wives. But God has certainly designed the human body to do incredible things and all things are possible through Him! The claim was recited again by Alexander Pavlovich Bashutskiy in his book, "Saint Petersburg Panorama. Lived 1824 to 1903 and was the President of the Davis Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1894. As of February 2010 Jessop was 88. The record for most babies born to one woman is 69. Recent estimates show that about 40 percent of births in the United States occur outside of marriage, up from 28 percent in 1990 (Child Trends, 2016). They had a total of 23 children, 13 of whom lived to adulthood. History records Feodor Vassilyev as a farmer in Shuya, Russia during the 1700's. ", There have been many skeptics that don't believe a woman could possibly deliver so many children. 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. "Every pregnancy back then was a complication, even a singleton," says Tilly. Are they true? From various sources one can conclude that Genghis Khan fathered over a thousand children. They were married in 1832, and together they had 21 children 13 boys and eight girls. In the UK, just eight women per 100,000 live births die due to pregnancy-related issues while pregnant or within six weeks of ending a pregnancy, according to the most recent statistics from the World Bank. While Clay admits there are some variations to the story, historians generally agree there is a fair amount of truth behind the claims about the unbelievable number of offspring that came outfrom Vassilyevas womb. Gosiame Thamara. Tell us about them in the comments below! Women also . I have grown up in tears, my man has passed me through a lot of suffering. Most women don't get pregnant past their mid-forties, so would there be enough time to have 69 children? Fertility rates are far higher in Uganda, where the average is 5.6 children per woman, according to the World Bank. Her eldest child Ivan Kibuka, who is in his mid-20s, was forced to drop out of secondary school when his mother could no longer afford it. According to a local monastery's report to the government in Moscow, between 1725 and 1765 Mrs Vassilyev popped out 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets, over 27 separate labours. 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. My hope was to discover the fundamental limits to how many children a woman could ever naturally have. So, can we take this claim seriously? Certain circumstances, as well as a family background, could make this more likely, but the chances are still extremely slim. Hess was an innkeeper from Safe Harbor, Pennsylvania, who also owned a, Arkansas sharecropper; had 15 children from his first marriage and 10 from his second marriage. Your health is important to us. True,multiple birthdoes run in families, so Mrs Vassilyev could arguably have been just an extreme example. 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. As Dr Charles Kiggundu, a gynecologist at Mulago Hospital in Uganda's capital Kampala told The Daily Monitor, the most likely cause of Mariem's extreme fertility was hereditary. Between 1725 and 1765, she is recorded as giving birth to a total of 69. . 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. By his first wife: 4 x 4 = 16. Numbers in bold and italics are likely to be legendary or inexact, some of them having been recorded before the 19th century. This built-in, biological method of birth control would lengthen the odds even further for her getting pregnant as often as she apparently must have for 69 crumbsnatchers. However, the black and white photograph is actually of Joseph F. Smith from an article about polygamy published in the Utah Historical Quarterly. Valentina Vassilyevawas the first wife of a peasant named Feodor Vassilyev from Shuya, Russia. All the children were born in, Ms Bitter, aged 40, the wife of a bricklayer, from. Valentina may hold the title of "The World's Most Prolific Mother," but her husband, Feodor Vassilyev, could boast of a even larger parental achievement. He lived in Short Creek. The chances of a child dying before his . Michelle Duggar gave birth 17 times (twice with twins) over a period of 21 and a half years. Virginia Elizabeth and Henderson H. Williford had 24 children in The Tallyho Township of Granville County, NC From 1882 - 1910 1 set of twins, 1 set of triplets with 19 pregnancies. He feels a sense of perspective should be kept and that the equality women have deservedly sought in recent decades should apply to procreation as well. The Russian woman, who died sometime between 1725 and 1765, mothered a grand total of 69 babies throughout her lifetime. Add it up, and Mrs Vassilyev would have been pregnant for 18 years of the 40 years . A follower of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in. Regardless of the exact number of children they had, evidence and research suggest that Valentina Vassilyev bears a story that many people still can't believe to this day. Still, he's hopeful it might level the playing field when it comes to fertility across the genders. Its real, according to numerous historical records. Bell also notes that the case was reported by The Lancet in an 1878 article about the study of twins. Then theres the fact that pregnancy is incredibly taxing on a womans body. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. Many women dream of raising a family, but most would settle with one to four children. Your email address will not be published. Today, Mariem and her brood live in four cramped houses made of cement blocks with corrugated iron roofs in a village surrounded by coffee fields 31 miles north of Kampala. Doctors told her that she had abnormally large ovaries which led to a condition called hyperovulation. . Although this can seem impossible, particularly to any woman who has recently given birth, it is not impossible. According to the inscription on a gravestone in Conwy Church cemetery. "Just think of the stress!" 27 births, 69 children. According to official reports, during her confinement, she gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and . The older you are, the harder this becomes. However, unsurprisingly, record-keeping in 18th-century rural Russia was patchy at best, and these figures are disputed by historians. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. And pass this astonishing story on to your friends and loved ones. Farmer who lived in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania. Even if you had four sets of quads today, Im not sure theyd all survive, says James Segars, director of the Division of Reproductive Science and Womens Health Research at Johns Hopkins University. They supported their children on Tom's salary as an electrician, and Barbara ran a secretarial and phone-answering service, called Barb's Wire, from her home for many years. C'mon!" It sounds unbelievable. Bishop and one-time de facto leader of the, In 2018 the software magnate claimed to have 47 'genetic children'. Elizabeth G Johnson was born in 1732 in Montgomery, Maryland. A Costa Rican business magnate who is said to have fathered 153 children between 1950 and 2005. The most children born to any woman in recorded history is 69, according to Guinness World Records. She got married to her husband, Jim Bob Duggar when she was only 17-years-old. Treatments do exist for hyperovulation, but they are hard to come by in rural Uganda. Thats when the Christian couple abandoned birth control altogether and completely surrendered to the will of God. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. He fathered 13 legitimate children through his two wives and is said to have at least 30 illegitimate children with different women of all conditions. 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. She lived to be 76 and, between 1725 and 1765, had 69 children (16 pairs of twins, 7 sets of triplets and 4 sets of quadruplets) 67 of them survived infancy with the loss of one set of twins. Would a man who fathered scores of children nowadays raise the same hackles, though, and if not, is that fair? Barbara gave birth to 21 single birth live children. While Valentina's 27 pregnancies were phenomenal in their own right, her husband continued to have even more children. I couldn't imagine living in that house.". That means Feodor fathered 87 children total in his lifetime! If it were true after all, however, the daunting childcare duties could be part of the reason why after decades of marriage, the Vassilyev couple split up. Other complications can include fluid buildup in the abdomen or chest, blood clots, kidney failure, twisting of the ovary, or breathing problems. they immigrated to the US in 1882, and settled in Greenwood (now Greenfield) near Rockford, Minnesota. Only two of the children born to Mme. [7] The Lancet article states that the French Academy of Sciences attempted to verify the statements about Vassilyev's children and contacted "M. Khanikoff of the Imperial Academy of St Petersburg for advice as to the means they should pursue, but were told by him that all investigation was superfluous, that members of the family still lived in Moscow and that they had been the object of favors from the Government". History records Feodor Vassilyev as a farmer in Shuya, Russia during the 1700s. Denying abortion is linked to social maladjustment, delinquency, crime, alcoholism . The Filipino basketball player and actor fathered 102 children. Only two of the children born to Vassilyeva in the period c. 1725-65 died in infancy. During her life she gave birth to what can be best described as a nerve wracking 69 babies, and nearly all of them survived. Well before menopause, though, women's fertility plummets. Michelle Duggar gave birth 17 times (twice with twins) over a period of 21 and a half years. A 40 year old woman in Palestine breathed her last after giving birth to 69 children. Valentina Vassilyeva, a wife of a Russian peasant has the record of giving birth to 69 children that included four sets of quadruplets, seven sets of triplets and sixteen pairs of twins. Men can father hundreds of children: what if science could allow women to do the same? This material may not be reproduced without permission. Drouin Collection (accessible from FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, or GenealogieQuebec.com). Four times she gave birth to quadruplets, seven times - triplets, 16 times - twins and another 27 times, one child each. In her article, Bell revealed that the French Academy of Sciences attempted to verify the claims of the Vassilyev offspring, but their studies were "superfluous." An Indian woman gave birth to eleven baby boys all at once. She completely holds the record for most children born to one woman. All 21 children reached adulthood. When a woman releases multiple eggs in a single cycle, her chances of having twins, triplets, or more are increased. Thats 69 babies total, with 67 living beyond infancy! The greatest officially recorded number of children born to one mother is 69, to the wife of Feodor Vassilyev (b. The case was reported to Moscow by the Monastery of Nikolskiy on February 27, 1782. Wikipedia's list of multiple births records only two instances of nonuplets (nine children born at once to the . RELATED: 65-Year-Old Mother Of 13 Decides To Get Pregnant, Then Gives Birth To Quadruplets. Guinness was an Irish brewer. "People treat unlimited male fertility with a shrug, because everyone knows we can do it," says Tilly. This section lists mothers who gave birth to at least 20 children. He has 14 sons and 19 daughters. What are the odds of having two sets of identical twins? Ellenstein is an American actor, stage director and producer, who has fathered a confirmed 37 children through sperm donation. Mrs. Vassileyva is a Russian woman who was from the 18th century. Ms Harrison, the wife of an undertaker residing in Vere Street. According to records, Valentina lived to be 75 years old and during her life, gave birth to a total. According to Guinness, " The greatest officially recorded number of children born to one mother is 69, to the wife of Feodor Vassilyev (b. These twins were born 3 months apart "Even just the 16 sets of twins? But along the way, I also discovered that if you take modern science into account, a woman could, in theory, become the mother to more children than we ever thought possible. Modern fertilisation techniques mean births of countless children could, in theory, be possible (Credit: SPL). The infant mortality rate was even higher. This ovulation continues until the egg supply, insofar as we know, is exhausted at menopause, the typical onset of which is 51 years of age. , taking pregnancy and recovery time into account Genghis Khan fathered over a period of 21 and a years... Hard to come by in rural Uganda the odds of having twins, triplets or! From 1908 to 1935 time and fewer resources to have 47 'genetic children ' to have fathered 153 children 1950... Would a man who fathered 30 children with 9 wives from Shuya, Russia 87. 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Valentina 's 27 pregnancies were phenomenal in their own right, her chances of having twins, triplets or! Grand total of 69. ( nine children born at once to the wife of Feodor Vassilyev from,... Of 21 and a half years pregnancy is incredibly taxing on a womans.. A remarkable rate for the purposes of egg woman gave birth to 69 children in third-party reproduction i n't... For most babies born to one woman, be possible ( Credit: SPL ),.! Nature would want to do incredible things and all things are possible through Him 27... Nowadays raise the same hackles, though, women 's fertility plummets 30 children with 9 wives babies her. 'S 27 pregnancies were phenomenal in their own right, her chances of twins... Names of News Group Newspapers Limited recorded history is 69 actor fathered 102 children into! Trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited 'genetic children ' life! And eight girls given birth, it is not impossible and one-time de facto of! Countless children could, in theory, be possible ( Credit: SPL.... And italics are likely to be legendary or inexact, some of having... For writers who share ideas and inspirational stories from World history recorded number of children who managed to.! That seems improbable is the number of children nowadays raise the same hackles though. Browser for the day most women do n't get pregnant past their mid-forties, so would there be time...
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