Lina Medina was only five years old when a doctor discovered she was seven months pregnant. And on May 14, 1939, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Gerardo.
In the early spring of 1939, parents in a remote Peruvian village noticed that their 5-year-old daughter had an enlarged belly. Fearful that the swelling was a tumor, Tiburelo Medina and Victoria Losea took their little girl, Lina Medina, from the family’s home in Ticrapo to see a doctor in Lima.
To the parents’ shock, the doctor discovered that Lina Medina was seven months pregnant. And on May 14, 1939, Medina gave birth via C-section to a healthy baby boy. At 5 years, seven months, and 21 days of age, she became the youngest mother in the world.
Medina’s case took pediatricians by surprise and attracted international attention that she and her family never wanted. To this day, Medina has never told authorities who the father was, and she and her family still shun publicity and avoid any opportunity for a tell-all interview.
Despite the mystery that continues to surround the case of the world’s youngest mother, more insight has come to light on how Lina Medina got pregnant — and who the father may have been.
