Lina Medina (born September 27 1933 in Paurange , Peru) is the youngest confirmed mother in medical history.

Originally thought to have a tumor, Lina was brought to a hospital by her parents at the age of 5 years; a month later, on May 14 1939, she gave birth to a boy through a caesarian section performed by Dr. Lozada and Dr. Busalleu (operators) and Dr. Colretta (anaesthesiologist). Dr. Lozada also took her to Lima, the capital of Peru, prior to the surgery, to have other specialists confirm that Lina was, in fact, pregnant. Her case was reported in detail by Dr. Edmundo Escomel in La Presse Medicale .

Her son, Gerardo, who weighed 2700 grams (5.9 lb) at birth, was raised believing that Lina was his sister, but found out that she was in fact his mother at the age of ten; he died in 1979 following a disease attacking the bone's marrow, but no connection has been established with the young age of his mother when she gave birth to him.

It is not known who the father of the child is, nor is it known whether Lina became pregnant after being raped. Lina, who later on married Raul Jurado, with whom she had another son in 1972, and who lives in a district of Lima known as "Little Chicago ", has not spoken out on the issue, and refused an interview with Reuters in 2002.

Further reading

• La Presse Medicale
  • "La Plus Jeune Mère du Monde." 47(38): 744, 1939 (13. Mai 1939)
  • "La Plus Jeune Mère du Monde." 47(43): 875, 1939 (31. Mai 1939)
  • "L'ovaire de Lina Medina, la Plus Jeune Mère du Monde." 47(94): 1648, 1939 (19. Dezember 1939)
• United Press. "Five-and-Half-Year-old Mother and Baby Reported Doing Well." Los Angeles Times. 16. Mai 1939 (p. 2)
• Los Angeles Times. "Physician Upholds Birth Possibility." 16. Mai 1939 (p. 2)
• The New York Times
  • "U.S. Health Official Returns from Peru." 15. November 1939 (p. 9)
  • "Mother, 5, to Visit Here." 8. August 1940 (p. 21)
  • "Wife of Peruvian Envoy Arrives to Join Him Here." 29. Juli 1941 (p. 8)
• Spectator Wire Services. "The Mother Peru Forgot." Hamilton Spectator. 23. August 2002 (p. B4)

Plus, Lina Medina begun menstruating at the age of 8 months and when she had the child she already had fully developed breasts & pubic hair.

External links

• The Telegraph (Calcutta, India): Six decades later, world’s youngest mother awaits aid
• An entry from the Dictionary of Medical Science, written by Edmundo Escomel in May 1939 (English translation)
• Story of a 5-Year-Old Mother
• The world's youngest mother
• A Detailed Snopes.com article on the subject