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| A segment of DW News |
Her name is Mariam Nabatanzi, living in Uganda. She is suffering from a rare genetic disease and had given birth to 44 children by 36 years old. She is also called the world's most fertile woman.
It is sad that Mariam Nabatanzi's husband died four years ago, and she is living in a small home surrounded by coffee fields made from weak cement bricks and a corrugated iron roof with her 44 children alone. She is responsible for raising all her children. And amazingly, she cares for and supports them alone.
She gave birth to four sets of triplets, three sets of quadruplets, and six sets of twins when she was just 36 years old. Doctors have since warned her from birthing anymore if she wants to live. Also, the doctor warned her that the birth control pill could cause her difficulties because she had huge ovaries. The world's most fertile woman was just 12 years old when she married her husband, 28 years elder. Her husband was 40 years old when she was just 12.
After a year of marriage, she gave birth to her first set of twins. So following her first set of twins, the kids just kept coming. Ugandan families are usually large, with women having over 6 children are common. Mariam Nabatanzi had 25 children when she was just 23 and despairingly asked her doctor for help to prevent her from having more babies. This is one of the highest birth rates in Africa, but Mariam's family is enormous even with these measures. Once again, the medicinal opinion was she should keep getting expecting because her ovary number was so great. Nabatanzi's last pregnancy three years ago stopped in tragedy when she gave birth to her sixth set of twins.
Mariam said: "I lived my life in tears. My husband has passed me into much suffering and difficulty. "All my time has been spent working to earn money and looking after my children." Although she got medical help, she needed to stop having more children. Gynecologist doctor Charles Kiggundu from Uganda (Kampala) said: "Her case is a genetic inclination to hyper-ovulate; that is releasing many eggs in one cycle, that significantly enhances the chance of having multiples; it is forever genetic." Mariam confirmed that the doctors had taken action to eliminate the risk of her becoming pregnant again. The doctor cut her uterus from the inside.
She is doing multiple works. Event decorators, hairdressers, and sometimes she collects and sells thrash metal.
