Lina Medina is the youngest mother in world history at age 5; Here's how she got pregnant

The youngest mother in history is 87-year old Lina Medina of Peru. She became pregnant at age four (4), and put to bed on May 14, 1939 at age five.

When her stomach started growing, doctors initially thought she had a large tumor. But after running tests, they found out she was seven months pregnant and only weeks away from delivery.

Lina sits alongside her pet dog and her son, Gerardo, who she gave birth to at the age of five (Source: The Sun UK)

She subsequently delivered a baby boy via caesaerean section, since her young pelvis was deemed too small for a natural birth. The surgery was performed by Dr. Gerardo Lozada and Dr Busalleu, with Dr Colareta providing anaesthesia. Lina was 5 years, 7 months, and 21 days old at the time of her delivery.

The possibility of her pregnancy is surprising to many, but medically, it appears to be quite possible. The doctors found she had fully mature sexual organs from a condition termed precocious puberty. Typically, puberty happens around the age of 11 for girls and 12 for boys - but if it happens before the age of eight in girls and  nine in boys, it is known as precocious puberty. And this was Lina's condition.

Five year old Lina Medina pregnant with her son Gerardo in 1939 (Source: The Sun UK)

According to Wikipedia, although it was speculated that the case was a hoax, a number of doctors over the years have verified it based on biopsies, X rays of the fetal skeleton in utero, and photographs taken by the doctors caring for her. In fact, there are two published photographs documenting the case. The first was taken around the beginning of April 1939, when Medina was seven-and-a-half months into pregnancy. Taken from her left side, it shows her standing naked in front of a neutral backdrop. It is the only published photograph taken during her pregnancy

Her baby was named Gerardo in honor of the doctor who delivered him. He was healthy at birth and weighed 2.7kg. And he also grew up healthy, but died in 1979 from bone marrow disease. He had grown up believing that Lina was his sister, but 

Lina as an adult in 1969 making her way into an office where she worked in Peru (Source: The Sun UK)

Lina is still alive today and lives in Peru still. However, she continues to refuse to sell her story to the press, choosing rather to live a quiet and normal life. According to The Sun UK, she married husband Raul in the 1970s, later giving birth to her second son at the age of 39. According to Wikipedia, in year 2002, she refused an interview by Reuters, just as she had been refusing many other reporters before that time.

Lina stands alongside one of the doctors and a pram with baby Gerardo in it after giving birth (Source: The Sun UK)

Medina has never revealed the identity of her late son's father. But Dr. Edmundo Escomel who appears to have been involved with the medical team and reported her case in the medical journal La Presse Médicale, suggests that she might not know herself, as she "couldn't give precise responses", he said.

After Lina gave birth, police arrested her father Tilburelo Medina on suspicion of child sexual abuse but released him due to lack of evidence. Her mother's name is Victoria Losea. 

Source: The Sun UK, Wikipedia