The Youngest Mother in the World: Lina Medina, Peru

Born at full term at Lima's maternity clinic, Lina Medina's child was taken through a caesarian operation done by Dr. Lozada and Dr. Busalleu.

Lina's son was weighing 2,700 grams at birth, was in good wealth and well formed. The baby and his young mother were able to leave the clinic after only a few days.

Lina Medina (born 27th of September, 1933, in Paurange, Peru) is the youngest confirmed mother in medical history, giving birth at the age of 5 years, 7 months and 21 days.

Lina Medina was brought in 1938 to a local hospital by her parents at the age of 5 years because of increasing abdominal size. She was originally thought to have had a tumor, but her doctors determined she was in her 7th month of pregnancy. Dr. Gerardo Lozada took her to Lima, Peru, prior to the surgery to have other professionals confirm that Lina was in fact pregnant. A month and a half later, on 14th of May, 1939, she gave birth to a boy by a caesarean section necessitated by her small pelvis. The surgery was performed by Dr. Lozada and Dr. Busalleu, with Dr. Colareta providing anaesthesia. Her case was reported in detail by Dr. Escomel to La Presse Medicale, along with the additional details that her menarche had occurred at 8 months of age, and that she had had prominent breast development by the age of 4. By age 5 her figure displayed pelvic widening and advanced bone maturation.

Her son weighed 2.7 kg at birth and was named Gerardo after the doctor who delivered gim. He was raised believing that Lina was his sister, but found out at the age of ten that she was his mother. He grew up healthy but died in 1979, aged 40, of a disease of the bone marrow.

Lina Medina never revealed who was the father of her child, nor the circumstances of her impregnation. Dr. Escomel suggested she might not actually know herself by writing that Lina "couldn't give precise responses". Lina's father was arrested on suspicion of incest and rape, but was later released due to lack of evidence. Medina later married Raul Jurado, who fathered her second son in 1972. They live in a poor district of Lima known as "Chicago Chico" ("Little Chicago"). She has never spoken to the press and has not given any details on the cirmunstances she became pregnant.

In young adulthood she worked as a secretary in the Lima clinic of Dr. Gerardo Lozada, the doctor who performed her caesarean section. Lozada gave her an education, and helped put her son through high school.