World’s most fertile woman who had 44 children by 36 stopped from having more babies
A MUM who has given birth to 44 children has been banned from having any more babies.
Mariam Nabatanzi delivered twins a year after she was married off at the age of 12.
Five more sets of twins followed — along with four sets of triplets and five sets of quadruplets.Three years ago, however, the 39-year-old Ugandan was abandoned by her husband, leaving her to support their surviving 38 children alone. This has thrown her family into poverty.
She lives with her children in four cramped houses made of cement blocks and topped with corrugated iron in a village surrounded by coffee fields 31 miles north of Kampala.
Now 40, doctors have taken action to stop Mariam having more children. Her epic run of pregnancies began after her first sets of twins were born.
When she went to the doctor it was noted that she had unusually large ovaries. He advised her that birth control like pills might cause health problems.
Yet the children kept coming… and coming.
Family sizes are at their largest in Africa. Her 38-child family is probably the country’s biggest brood. Her last pregnancy, three ago, had complications.
It was her sixth set of twins and one of them lost her life in childbirth, her sixth child to pass away. Then her husband — often absent for long stretches — abandoned her. His name is now a family curse.
Desperate for cash, Nabatanzi turns a hand to everything:
hairdressing, event decorating, collecting and selling scrap metal, brewing local gin and selling herbal medicine. The money is swallowed up by food, medical care, clothing and school fees.
In one small room with grime-caked walls, twelve of her children sleep on metal bunk beds with very thin mattresses. In other rooms, their siblings pile onto shared mattresses while others rest on the dirt floor.
One day can require 25kg of maize flour, Nabatanzi said. Meat or fish are considered luxuries. Her greatest wish is for her children to be happy.
Her eldest child Ivan Kibuka, 23, had to drop out of secondary school when the money ran out. Providing a home for 38 children is a constant challenge.
Twelve of the children sleep on metal bunk beds with thin mattresses in one small room with grime-caked walls. In the other rooms, lucky children pile onto shared mattresses while the others sleep on the dirt floor.
Older children help look after the young ones and everyone helps with chores like cooking.
A single day can require 25 kilograms of maize flour, Nabatanzi says. Fish or meat are rare treats. A roster on a small wooden board nailed to a wall spells out washing or cooking duties.
Having endured such a hard childhood herself, Nabatanzi’s greatest wish now is for her children to be happy.
Source:
smalljoys.tv, thesun.co.uk
