Going for a record: women who gave birth to the most children in the world. Going for a record: women who gave birth to the most children in the world The most large families of our time
A woman who lived in Russia in the 18th century set a “world record” by giving birth to 69 children from 1725 to 1765. This is Valentina Vasilyeva from Shuya, who was the first wife of the peasant Fyodor Vasilyev. Of these, she had 16 twins, triplets - 7, quadruplets - 4. In total, there were 27 births. In total, 67 children survived in infancy.
Fedor Vasiliev and his second wife had 18 children (of which: twins - 6, triplets - 2). The first report about this peasant and his family was published in 1783 in the London magazine. Then it was written about him in 1834 in the book Panorama of St. Petersburg. The history is truly amazing. But was she really there? This is suggested by the online publication Yenata.blitz.bg.
Doubtful record?
Fyodor Vasiliev and his first wife Valentina lived in Russia, in the town of Shuya, between 1707 and 1782. According to some reports, Valentina died when she was 76 years old. Of her 69 children, only two died in infancy. According to the Guinness Book of Records, this woman is the most prolific of mothers.
If you try to calculate the years in which she could give birth, then this could be the period from 1725 to 1765. That is, her 27 pregnancies could fall on a period of life equal to forty years. At first glance, this will seem possible to someone, but at the second - doubtful. Yenata.blitz.bg offers to make a number of calculations.
Whole 18 years?
It is known that in general, pregnancy in humans takes 40 weeks. However, the more embryos in the mother's womb, the more likely it is that the birth will be premature. According to some estimates, the peasant woman Vasilyeva could have 37-week pregnancies with twins, 32 weeks with triplets and 30 weeks with quadruplets.
The total is 936 weeks. There are 52 weeks in one year. Dividing 936 by 52 gives 18 years. Thus, Valentina Vasilyeva had to spend 18 years in a state of pregnancy. Isn't that a very impressive number? If we take into account the opinion of experts, then they question this assumption.
Reasons to doubt
Theoretically, one can talk about the physiological characteristics inherent in some women, which could also be present in a prolific peasant woman. And they need to be taken into account:
- Firstly, there is such a phenomenon as multiple ovulation, when several eggs mature during one cycle. Although not the most common occurrence, approximately 5 to 10% of periods are. This phenomenon could be observed in Valentina. But at the same time, she still managed to avoid the "twin syndrome", when one of the fetuses is absorbed by the other or by the mother's body itself. With multiple pregnancies, it is observed in 25-30% of cases.
- Secondly, both pregnancy and childbirth are always a certain stress for the female body. If pregnancy follows one after another with an interval of less than 18 months, then the risk of complications for both the woman and the child is quite high. The mother does not have enough time to recover from a previous birth. So if even two pregnancies in a row are risky, what about 27?
- Thirdly, experts doubt that with such an intensity of the birth of children, even in the modern world, with today's development of medicine, the probability of survival of both mother and offspring is not high. Obviously, in a provincial town in the 18th century, it was much smaller. At that time, any pregnancy was accompanied by risks.
Children still need to be fed
At the same time, one should not lose sight of the fact that peasant women, as a rule, were burdened with hard work and did not have enough time to take care of children. At the same time, in order to feed such a horde, a large amount of food was needed, plus clothing, a place in the dwelling to accommodate it. It is unlikely that an ordinary peasant family could provide everyone with such a number of offspring.
Publications about an unusual family
Nevertheless, there are a number of publications that can speak in favor of the described phenomenon of a large family of Vasiliev peasants. These include, for example, the following:
- In 1782, a letter was sent from the Nikolsky Monastery to Moscow, which stated that Fyodor Vasilyev had children from two marriages. His second wife had 18 children (12 twins and 6 triplets). These data were posted in 1834 in the "Petersburg Panorama".
- In 1783, the Gentleman magazine published an article about the unusual Vasiliev family. Its author argued that such "extraordinary fertility" could be explained by a phenomenon inherent in both a man and a woman, or both at once.
- One of the French publications said that the French Academy of Sciences became interested in this family and turned to the St. Petersburg Academy to clarify the issue.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the family depicted in the main photo is by no means the Vasilievs, as one might think. In this photo you can see Joseph Smith's family. He was co-chairman of a religious organization that is the largest branch of Mormonism. He was married six times and had 45 biological and five adopted children.
19 children
Michelle Duggar is a celebrity. She gave birth to nine girls and ten boys, and named her children with J. She taught all of them at home - such a motley and crowded class turned out.
Michelle had several twins, but she gave birth on average once every 15 months. The Duggars have their own system of education and training. Children are united in small groups, which are called systems of comrades: older children help the younger ones do their homework and teach them about housekeeping.
Popular
Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, her husband, raised the children religiously. At Christmas, instead of "Merry Christmas," they wished each other "Jesus' birthday." Michelle and Jim want their grandchildren to grow up as close to them as possible, and their children make love only in marriage. Many descendants already have children of their own.
https://www.instagram.com/duggarfam
"Octomama"
14 children
The sad story of Nadia Suliman, who is called an octoma. She is famous for the fact that in January 2009 she gave birth to eight children (octuplets)! After giving birth to six ... In the United States, this is the second time in history when eight children are born alive.
Despite the fact that Nadia had no job, no stable income, no family that could help her (she lived only on government assistance programs), she not only gave birth to eight children, she conceived them with the help of IVF, although at first did not admit it.
Nadia (real name Natalie) was born in California, she was the only child of Angela Suliman, a school teacher, and Edward Suliman, a restaurant owner in Iraq. Natalie was educated and worked in a psychiatric hospital for three years.
At 21, Natalie married Marco Gutierrez, but divorced him four years later. Marco admitted in an interview that the fault was that they could not have children. In 2001, Nadia gave birth to her first son through IVF, in 2002 - a daughter, three subsequent pregnancies gave her four more children.
Nadia's act caused a public outcry not only because of her irresponsible attitude towards the future of her children, but also because so many children would burden the taxpayers. Although Suliman repeated that she would be able to provide for the children and planned to get a master's degree, she never did. In September 1999, during a strike, she suffered a back injury and from 2002 to 2008 lived on disability benefits.
When she brought her babies home in 2009, she did not expect to face such aggression from the public: vandals tore the child seat out of her car, threatened her with violence.
Nadia many times got into scandalous and dubious situations: for example, at some point there were rumors that she starred in pornography. In various interviews, she either stated that she was “trying to be the perfect mother”, then she said that she “hates children” and they “disgust her”. In 2019, when the octuplets celebrated their 10th birthday, she said in an interview for the Australian program Sunday Night that although she was "totally young, dumb, irresponsible selfish", now she does not regret any of her children and says that " children are her life.
The first wife of Fyodor Vasiliev
69 children
Unfortunately, history has not preserved the name of this woman, only her husband. The peasant Fyodor Vasiliev lived from 1725 to 1765, and his first wife (who lived to the age of 76) bore him 69 children (16 pairs of twins, 7 triplets and 4 ... hmm ... "set" of twins of 4 children each). The most amazing thing is that 67 of them survived infancy.
Apparently, Fedor was to blame for everything, because his second wife bore him 18 children: 6 pairs of twins and two triplets. Information about the Vasiliev family is included in the Guinness Book of Records, but many are still skeptical about the veracity of this story. The first published information about them appeared in the British magazine The Gentleman's Magazine: it seems like one merchant from St. Petersburg told his relatives in England ... In general, yes, there are many doubts about this story.
"The Case of Gravat"
62 children
If there were twins in your family, then your chance to give birth to twins also increases - this is a hereditary trait. A peasant woman from Tuscany, who lived more than a hundred years ago, had a twin sister. And her mother is one of the triplets. It seems her fate was sealed.
Having married a man named Gravata, she gave birth to a daughter. One. An amazing thing. The Spaniard must have even felt relieved, but early. The daughter was followed by six (!) boys, whom she gave birth not in turn, but at one time.
Then four more boys and a couple of triplets. Four again. Then she had the opportunity to "rest" a bit, when she then gave birth to several "single" children. At the end of her strange “career” (we are by no means ironic about the plight of this woman, who is very sorry), she gave birth to four boys.
Today, May 10, is the birthday of the American physician Charles Colton, known for his scandalous idea for the early twentieth century about the need for birth control. For the promotion of contraceptives, he was even imprisoned. In memory of the doctor, we will tell you about the largest mother in the world, a Russian woman, whose name has not come down to us. Let's find out if the Guinness Book of Records could really bear and give birth to 69 children, and what are the limits of the female body.
Even one child is not so easy to give birth and raise. And if there are not just more children, but much, much more? For example, sixty-nine?!
If there had been newspapers during the life of the Vasiliev family, this story would have become a worldwide sensation. In the 18th century, such news was passed from mouth to mouth, which did not prevent the data on the world record from being preserved to this day. More than fifty children are no joke.
So, a long time ago in the village of Vasilyevskoye, Shuisky district, a peasant Fyodor Vasilyev lived with his young wife. Children who were born at that time were recorded in church books. And the monks of the Nikolsky Monastery recorded the babies born all over the district, including in the Vasiliev family. Recorded by the name of the father, so we do not know today what was the name of his heroic first wife. But we know that she gave birth to 69 children in 40 years. One pair of twins died, and 67 children survived, which at that time was considered an incredible success, especially for multiple pregnancies. This fact was noted by Empress Catherine II, and Fedor himself was also presented in the court of the Queen of Britain. How did his nameless wife manage to accommodate 69 babies at 40?
She had 27 pregnancies that ended in childbirth. Twins were born 16 times, triplets were born 7 times and quadruplets were born 4 times.
Let's calculate how long the mother of many children in the world was pregnant. Consider that multiple pregnancies usually end at an earlier date. So:
- 16 pairs of twins with gestation up to 37 weeks;
- 7 pairs of triplets - 7 times for 32 weeks;
- 4 times quadruplets - usually not longer than 30 weeks of pregnancy.
There were no singleton pregnancies. And that means that in total Vasilyeva was pregnant for 18 years.
How long the mother of many children lived is unknown. Some sources report that she died at the age of 76, and was Fedor's second wife, others that she did not live even half a century. Her record has not yet been broken, there is evidence of a woman from Palestine who also gave birth to 69 children and died at 40 years old. But it is not known for sure whether everyone in the family was from the same mother. Also, as in the case of the Vasilievs. By the way, Fedor himself, after (or before, the sources are contradictory) the death of his wife, remarried, in which 18 more children were born. If we calculate the probable number of descendants, then today more than 70 thousand genetic heirs of a prolific peasant from the Ivanovo region walk the Earth.
So is it possible to give birth to so many children and survive?
Families in which about 20 children were born are, of course, rare, but they still exist today. In the USA, Great Britain and Russia there are mothers and fathers raising 21 children each!
It is authentically known that in Chile there is a mother of many children named Leontina Albina, who gave birth to 55 babies over 40 years. It also deserves an entry in the Guinness Book of Records.
Speaking of Guinness itself. Fast forward to the 18th century. The family of the famous Irish brewer Arthur Guinness is also large, with Arthur and Olivia having 21 children in total. Three of the Guinness children will continue their father's business, brewing. Thanks to them, famous beer with centuries-old traditions is still produced, and there is also a Book of Records, which was created at the initiative of the company in 1955.
Theoretically, a woman is able to give birth to such a number of children, especially in multiple pregnancies, which significantly reduce the number of births. But is it possible in practice? Let's get back to the calculations.
Menarche, the first menstruation and a signal of the beginning of readiness for conception, in those centuries, on average, was noted at 15 years, and the period of fertility lasted an average of 45-50 years, until the egg supply was depleted. The probability of getting pregnant after the age of 45 without the use of reproductive technologies is on average 1%. The ability to conceive decreases with each birth, as this exhausts the body, and the mother needs a recovery period. Even Vasilyeva unambiguously breastfed her children, since there were no mixtures, peasants usually did not have money for breadwinners, and almost all of the children survived. This means that she had periods of lactational amenorrhea, when it does not occur.
Breastfeeding according to the rules lasted "three fasts", that is, on average, children were fed for a year and a half. If we assume that Vasilyeva was distinguished by increased fertility and a new pregnancy occurred in the process of breastfeeding children at the age of six months, then she spent almost 14 years on only one breastfeeding. Unless, of course, weaned children from the breast after conception. And if she continued to feed, as expected, then the period of breastfeeding lasted 40 years! It's hard to believe in such iron health ...
Too many twins!
Another questionable fact is the number of multiple pregnancies. Not once has only one child been born. By the way, Vasiliev's second wife also had twins. But the statistics are relentless: today the probability of having twins without IVF is only 1.5%, and triplets - 0.0003%. Quadruplets appear with a frequency of 1 time in 300 thousand pregnancies! Although there is definitely a hereditary tendency to multiple pregnancies, the example of the Vasiliev family, if true, is an incredible phenomenon that is hard to believe. Even 16 pairs of twins sounds like an unreal story to experts.
And the birth of twins and triplets is a huge health risk, not to mention quadruplets. Especially in the eighteenth century, away from the capital's doctors. For example, in Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries, today the maternal mortality rate in childbirth is 1,100 per 100,000. In Russia, this figure is 11, in Europe - 7-9. Each pregnancy poses a risk to the health and life of the mother, and multiple pregnancies increase the risk several times.
67 survivors and the reason for the divorce
Another questionable point in this story is the survival of children. According to historians, the documents indicate that 67 babies survived infancy. And this at a time when infant mortality reached incredible numbers - from 30 to 60%, and these are children from singleton pregnancies born at term. Twins, and even more so premature triplets, survived even less often.
Finally, it is extremely difficult to believe that there are women who are ready for such a life, consisting of pregnancies, childbirth and feeding for decades, while still managing to take care of other children. And they all need to be fed somehow. And if this story is not fiction, but true, then the constant care of children who can fill two school classes at once could cause the Vasilyevs to divorce. And also Fedor's remarriage, which brought him "a total of 18 children." There is another version: the children in the family appeared not only from his wife, Vasiliev adopted all the "side branches", hiding their origin. This could explain both the number of multiple pregnancies and the ensuing divorce.
According to the entries in the famous Guinness Book of Records, the most fruitful mother in the world was a Russian woman, the wife of Fyodor Vasilyev, a peasant who lived in Russia in the 18th century. He lived in the city of Shuya (now Ivanovo region) from 1707 to 1782. His first wife, whose name, unfortunately, has not been preserved in history, gave birth to 69 children. Among them were sixteen twins, seven triplets and even four quadruplets. All this happened in 1725-1765. In total, this superheroine mother has endured at least 27 births. 67 of her children survived. Russian women in those days were probably distinguished not only by good health. but also great patience. Living conditions in Shuya in the 18th century were relatively prosperous: weaving production was rapidly established in the vicinity, which allowed the merchants to have an income and not to live in poverty for the peasantry.
After the death of his first wife in 1765, Fedor remarried, and in his subsequent second marriage, six more twins and two triplets were born. That is, the second, also nameless, Vasiliev's wife bore him 18 more sons and daughters. In total, this Shuya peasant became the father of 87 children. Most likely, the gene of "large families" was transmitted precisely along his line, since when the wife changed, heredity for twins and triplets in the family was so happily preserved. Of the children from two marriages, Fyodor Vasilyev had 82 children who survived in infancy. This is truly an incredible and outstanding world record.
The story of this amazing fact was first published in the London magazine in 1783. Fyodor Vasiliev, who came to visit his relatives living in England, became a stunning sensation for British journalists. It must be assumed that this peasant was not a poor man if he had enough funds for such a very expensive trip from St. Petersburg to the British Isles, or he received very solid sponsorship. During this extraordinary journey, as mentioned in the annals of history, Fyodor Vasiliev was introduced to the Empress, who, for all her frugality, always knew how to be generous. Information about the voyage of a father with many children to the capital and the British Isles is almost verbatim reflected in the book by A.P. Bashutsky "Panorama of St. Petersburg", published in 1834.
Scientists-statisticians, assuming that if each of these 67 surviving children of Fyodor Vasiliev and his first wife had at least 2 children of his own, and this is a very low birth rate for those times when there were 4-7 children in families, then if you allow for a range of approximately 25 years between generations, you get an impressive figure: 70,000. It is precisely such a huge number of descendants of the Fedorov spouses that can exist now, in our time. This is quite real, if their amazing force of life, of course, has not been heavily affected by subsequent tragedies, wars and other misfortunes that have befallen the country and the whole world for three whole centuries.
Children are the flowers of life, but most of us will only have a small bouquet of 2 or 3. However, the story tells of a woman who gave birth to 69 children in the 18th century. Her name was Valentina Vasilyeva, and she still holds the world record for the largest number of children born in history.
Valentina Vasilyeva was the first wife of a peasant named Fyodor Vasilyev from Shuya, Russia. The family lived in the 1700s, between 1707-1782. It is believed that Valentina died at the age of 76, having given birth to 69 children in her life, 2 of whom died in infancy.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the most prolific mother in history survived 27 births: 16 of them were twins, 7 were triplets and 4 were four children each.
Obviously, she did not give birth all her life, her childbearing period was approximately in 1725-1765, that is, 40 years for 27 births. At first glance, this may seem sufficient, at a second glance it is impossible, and at a third glance it is doubtful.
The average pregnancy takes 40 weeks. However, the more children in the womb, the higher the likelihood of early birth. According to BBC calculations, Ms Vasilyeva could have given birth at 37 weeks pregnant with twins, 32 weeks pregnant with triplets and 30 weeks pregnant with quadruplets.
If we add all this up, we get 936 weeks. A year consists of 52 weeks, so Ms. Vasilyeva had to spend 18 years of her life on pregnancy. Sounds pretty complicated?
Reproductionists cast doubt on history
Although, in theory, Ms. Vasilyeva had enough time to give birth to all the children, there are a couple more points to consider.
First of all, there is such a feature as multiple ovulation, when a woman's body releases several eggs in 1 cycle. While this is not the most common feature in the world (roughly 5-10% of all your cycles), there is a chance that Valentine was just a phenomenon. By the way, very special if she managed to avoid vanishing twin syndrome: a phenomenon that occurs when one of the twins (or several in the case of plurals) is absorbed by the placenta, a stronger fetus, or even the mother's body. The syndrome is quite common in multiple pregnancies.
Secondly, pregnancy and childbirth is a difficult thing for the female body. When pregnancies pass one after another with an interval of less than 18 months, the risk of complications increases for both the mother and the child. The body of a woman simply does not have time to recover before the next pregnancy.
Third, experts doubt that many children (as well as their mother) will survive even with today's medicine, let alone rural 18th-century Russia. At the time, every pregnancy was a risk. Add the fact that they were peasants and had to work and take care of children at the same time.
This story is backed by real facts.
But it is worth noting that there are historical facts that speak in favor of the Vasilievs. There was a list sent by the Nikolsky Monastery to Moscow on February 27, 1782, which proves that Fyodor Vasiliev had at that time 82 living children from 2 marriages. His second wife "gave" him 18 children: 12 twins and 6 triplets. The data from the list were published in 1834 in the St. Petersburg "Panorama".
In 1783, The Gentleman's magazine published an article containing a list relating to the Vasiliev case. The author of the list says that the "extraordinary fertility" may come from "the man alone, or the woman, or both together," but it is more likely that Fedor was the cause, as history repeated itself with his second wife.
Lancet's article claims that the French Academy of Sciences tried to investigate the case and approached the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg. They were told that the Vasilievs live in Moscow and receive mercy from the government.
How true this story is, you decide, but it does not leave us indifferent!