Back in 1939, a girl named Lina Medina gave birth to a healthy baby boy. The only note-worthy detail in this was the girl’s age: she was only five-years-old.
This story is truly a medical marvel – one that is surely hard to believe.
Lina Medina, from Ticrapo, a village in the Andes, had a baby boy via C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ as her ᴘᴇʟᴠɪs was too small for natural birth on May 14, 1939. The ʜᴀʀʀᴏᴡɪɴɢ story was ᴜɴᴇᴀʀᴛʜᴇᴅ ᴠɪᴀ her ᴍᴇᴅɪᴄᴀʟ records. Lina has declined cash offers to tell her story, despite being asked multiple times by newspaper reporters.
At the time, the young girl complained of sᴛᴏᴍᴀᴄʜ ᴘᴀɪɴs to her mother, Victoria Losea, a housewife, and doctors ᴀssᴜᴍᴇd she had a ᴛᴜᴍᴏᴜʀ. It came to light that she was in fact seven-months-pregnant. Her baby was born a healthy 6lbs and was named Gerardo after the doctor that delivered him. Medics discovered Lina became pregnant due to a condition called ᴘʀᴇᴄᴏᴄɪᴏᴜs ᴘᴜʙᴇʀᴛʏ, when a child’s body hits ᴘᴜʙᴇʀᴛʏ ᴘʀᴇᴍᴀᴛᴜʀᴇʟʏ. Her ʙʀᴇᴀsᴛs were nearly fully developed by the age of four and she started having periods aged three, according to her mother.
However, a medical report from Peru logged the child’s menstrual cycle as starting at eight-months-old. The father of Gerardo remains unknown although Lina’s own father, Tiburelo Medina, a silversmith, was ᴀʀʀᴇsᴛᴇᴅ after the birth on sᴜsᴘɪᴄɪᴏɴ of ʀᴀᴘɪɴɢ her. He was later released due to a lack of evidence.
Studies show that young ᴠɪᴄᴛɪᴍs of sᴇxᴜᴀʟ ᴀʙᴜsᴇ are more likely to experience ᴘʀᴇᴄᴏᴄɪᴏᴜs ᴘᴜʙᴇʀᴛʏ.
Lina – who was impregnated aged four – was unable to give “precise responses” when asked about the baby’s father and may not have known due to her young age, claim medics. Her father has sᴛʀᴏɴɢʟʏ ᴅᴇɴɪᴇᴅ that he ʀᴀᴘᴇᴅ his daughter, The Teal Mango reports. Lina’s cousin was also sᴜsᴘᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ of ʀᴀᴘɪɴɢ her but due to a ʟᴀᴄᴋ of ᴇᴠɪᴅᴇɴᴄᴇ, the police could not charge him.
He wrote: “She thinks of the child as a baby brother and so does the rest of the family.”
Two years after Gerardo was born Lina was assessed by child specialist Paul Koask, from Columbia University, who described her intelligence as above average and her baby as “perfectly normal”.
