On May 14, 1939, Lina Medina gave birth, via caesarean, to a healthy six-pound baby boy, in a remote village in Ticrapo, Castrovirreyna Province, Peru.
The girl’s belly had been growing for several months and her mother was afraid she might have a tumor. To their shock, the doctor diagnosed their daughter as being seven months pregnant.
Medina never revealed who the father was. The father was briefly arrested for suspected child rape but was eventually released and the charges against him dropped.
She was 5 years, 7 months, and 21 days old. The youngest known person in history to give birth. The surgery was performed by Lozada and Dr. Busalleu, with Dr. Colareta providing anesthesia. Her case was reported in detail by Dr. Edmundo Escomel in the medical journal La Presse Médicale.
About one in every 10,000 children develop a condition known as “precocious puberty,” in which the child’s body reaches sexual maturity before age eight.
Her son grew up thinking that she was his older sister, and only found out the truth when he was a teenager.