69 Vasiliev children. Is it possible to maintain fertility for two decades? Interesting pages of history

The Guinness Book of Records is full of incredible achievements, but the veracity of one of them raises serious doubts in many people. We are talking about the record of a woman who allegedly gave birth to 69 children in her life. This, according to the information that has come down to our time, is the wife of a certain peasant Fyodor Vasiliev.

The exact name of this woman, alas, is unknown, although some sources suggest that her name was Valentina. According to the records of the village of Vasilyevskoye, Shuisky district, Valentina Vasilyeva gave birth 27 times, and at the same time she gave birth to twins 16 times, triplets seven times and quadruplets four times. Moreover, almost all of her children (67 out of 69) survived early infancy.

As the story goes, Fedor lived with Valentina while she could give birth to children, and when she lost this opportunity, being already an elderly person, he married a second time - and his new wife bore him 18 more children.

The main source of information about this history are the monastic records. From the records it follows that in 1782 Fedor Vasilyev was the father of 87 children. At that time, Fedor was already 75 years old, and of all the children, 82 survived.

Of course, despite the fact that this record is documented, it is not possible to verify the accuracy of this information. So, Adam Hadkhazi from the BBC service conducted an investigation and found out that Valentina Vasilyeva had to be pregnant for 18 years in order to give birth 27 times. At the same time, it is rather doubtful that she could give birth to two, three and even four children without any complications.

If we talk about what were the chances of a successful birth for a woman at the end of the 18th century, but the chances were small, even if it was a normal pregnancy with one child. Today's medicine allows premature babies to come out (and triplets and quadruplets are almost always born prematurely), but even today, any pregnancy and childbirth is a risk to a woman's health. What can we say about the health of a woman who survived 27 births in a Russian village of the 18th century?

Of course, experts recognize the rare, perhaps even unique of its kind, the opportunity to repeatedly give birth to twins and triplets. But here another question arises - how did the peasant manage to feed such a horde of children, most of whom were the weather.

One way or another, Vasilyeva's record is indeed included in the Guinness Book of Records, and it is very doubtful that someone could somehow "surpass" it without the intervention of genetic engineering in the near future. Another thing is parenthood. The fact of the paternity of Fedor Vasiliev 87 children, in principle, no one doubts. He is even compared to Genghis Khan, who became the father of several hundred children. To date, according to genetics, about 16 million inhabitants of various countries around the globe are considered to be his descendants.

As for Valentina Vasilyeva, this story still does not find any refuting or confirming additional sources of information. Although, if you look at - mothers of eights, then there are even more doubts.

Based on bbc.com and thevintagenews.com

The world could not repeat or beat this record. The advantage of the peasant woman was her genetics, which made it possible to produce children in 27 births. Vasilyeva gave birth to twins 16 times (another world record), triplets and four quadruplets were born seven times. Unfortunately, only 67 children survived to adulthood.

It is worth noting that this record is not the final point for Fedor Vasiliev himself. The peasant was married twice. In his first marriage, he had 20 more children. As a result, there were 87 children in a large family. This fact was appreciated even by Catherine the Great, and information about such a large offspring is included in the book "Additions to the Acts of Emperor Peter the Great."

Historians are still arguing about the birth order of the children of the peasant Vasiliev. However, the facts gleaned from house books and issues of the Vedomosti newspaper testify to the excessive fertility of the second wife.

The largest families of our time

If not a single woman has managed to beat the record of the peasant woman Vasilyeva to this day, Fedor Vasilyev himself, with a noticeable advantage, was ahead of the modern Hindu Zion Chan (Sion Khan). A polygamist will be born to 94 children.

An Indian man was able to conceive so many children thanks to his wives - Zion Chan has 39 of them. A huge family lives in a multi-storey building. The wives of sons and grandchildren of the father-hero live in it. According to conservative estimates, about 180 people live in the house.

According to the father of the family, they begin to prepare for dinner in their house before breakfast. As a rule, wives take part in cooking. To feed so many people, more than a dozen chickens and several carts of vegetables are spent on one meal.

In those countries where it is forbidden, the records are distinguished by "modesty". Leontina Albina, a resident of Chile, came closest to the Vasilyevsky record. She managed to give birth to 55 children and was also listed in the Book of Records.

In modern Russia, there are heroes of childbearing. Today they are Elena and Alexander Shishkin. The family (the direction of Christianity, where abortion is strictly prohibited) gave birth to 20 children. Nineteen of them still live with their parents, and the eldest son already has his own family and three kids.

Active supporters of Christianity Bob and Michelle Duggar did not think about a large family. Initially, their plans included giving life to two or three children. However, after the first baby and subsequent contraception, the woman had a miscarriage that nearly cost her her life. After that, the husband and wife decided not to interfere with "God's plans", and surrendered to the will of fate. As a result, they became one of the largest families in America, having given birth and raised 19 children. There could have been more babies, but Michelle's three births ended in the death of babies.

The happiness of becoming parents is not easy for everyone and at first desire. Long gone are the days when people could only pray for the appearance of their babies, hoping for good luck. Modern medicine offers childless couples many methods to fulfill their cherished dreams, which sometimes leads to such unexpected results as multiple pregnancies.

Interesting pages of history

It is known for certain that in 1946 a Brazilian woman gave birth to ten offspring from one mother. History is silent about whether the kids managed to adapt to the world around them. Approximately at the same time, cases of births of the same number were recorded in Spain and China. Little is known about their subsequent fate.

A little more detail can be found about the eight twins of an American citizen, each of whom survived. Another American woman also set an unspoken record for childbearing: in 1998, she had eight children at once, and seven were not only saved from death, but also subsequently raised.

The feat of becoming parents of many children

What is special about pregnancy with several fetuses at once? The reasons that 100% lead to multiple pregnancy are not always amenable to logical explanation, but there is also a completely scientific view. Recently, the appearance of several babies at once is a frequent consequence of the artificial insemination procedure, due to the specific features of its implementation. Previously, such cases occurred rather as a result of a random combination of circumstances or a hereditary predisposition.

In addition, ladies in adulthood should also expect such surprises during fertilization, since before the onset of menopause, the body produces eggs in the mode. They are not immune from the surprise of becoming mothers of many children who, before conception, stopped taking hormonal drugs or took antibiotics for a long time.

Childbirth in multiple pregnancies usually takes place the earlier, the more children a woman bears. This natural process has a number of features in this case, because the work of all body systems of the woman in labor works in an increased mode and consumes much more strength.

Despite the fact that such pathologies as uterine bleeding and oxygen starvation of the second fetus are not excluded during the procedure, the procedure is resorted to only under strict indications. If we are talking about pregnancy with four fetuses and above, there is a high probability of death of children after their birth. And therefore, it is especially scrupulous to select an institution leading an unusual one and a doctor taking delivery.

There is an opinion among the people that a born baby weighing less than average is not a healthy newborn, even if it appeared without any complications and on time. Large children with large height and weight are considered healthy.

pathology or normal

The norm is considered to be a weight of three kilograms, plus or minus 500 grams. We can say - this is a classic weight. "Giants" are considered babies weighing more than five kilograms. The growth of such heroes is also above average and can reach up to 60 centimeters.

However, there are times when even these "heroic" norms exceed by several tens of percent.

Such large babies do not necessarily become giants,. With age, the difference with children with average parameters gradually decreases, and by maturity it disappears altogether. For example, Tom Jarrison, born in Texas, weighed 8.5 kilograms in 1962 and was 58 centimeters tall. By the age of 10, his weight was already 33 kg, that is, he was within the average norm. At the age of 50, with a height of 175 cm, his body weight was 80 kg. It turns out that nature itself corrects the failures in the development of giant children.

True, not everything is so good. Doctors have been studying such anomalies for several decades. Often born children with excess weight subsequently suffer from diabetes mellitus, they are much more likely to have allergic diseases. This is due to altered muscle tone. Large children born quite often develop neurological diseases. Of course, when such a child is born, it is not necessary that he will manifest all such diseases, but the risk of their occurrence is much greater than that of "average" children.

Just the parents of the baby in the future will need to pay more attention to such factors.

Giant birth records

In the world, appearances with a weight exceeding the norm have long been recorded. The Guinness Book of Records describes many such cases. More recently, a baby was born in Indonesia, whose weight was more than nine kilograms (2009). He was 62 cm tall. The birth of such a child can hardly be called an ordinary birth, most likely it was an extraction from the mother.

Modern medicine is ready for such surprises of nature, so nothing threatened the health of the mother of such a hero. The difficulty was in raising a child after childbirth. Mom constantly had to feed the baby, as he had an increased appetite from his first days. This large baby differed from the rest of the babies in his voice, because he cried much louder than others.

Doctors explain such an increased development of the fetus by the disease of the woman in labor with diabetes mellitus. The largest in the countries of the former CIS is a boy weighing 6.7 kg (Samara) and a girl born in Altai, her weight was 7.7 kg. At the moment, the record holder is a child whose body weight at birth has reached 10.2 kg. This baby was born in 1955 in Italy.

Pregnancy for most women is an expected and happy event, but it happens that it turns out to be multiple. Most often, a woman with multiple pregnancies gives birth to twins or triplets, but is it possible to give birth to six children at a time?

All about multiple pregnancy

A multiple pregnancy is a condition in which two or more embryos develop simultaneously in the uterus. The body of a woman with a multiple pregnancy requires very close attention, so the future mother of many children should treat it with all responsibility. She must observe a special regimen of the day and nutrition, as well as undergo the prevention of possible complications. Children born as a result of multiple pregnancy are called identical or fraternal twins.

Simultaneous maturation from two or more eggs occurs both in one and in two female ovaries at once.

The causes of multiple pregnancy are most often several factors, which include maternal heredity and in vitro fertilization, in which all the eggs planted in the woman's uterus take root and develop. In addition, multiple pregnancy can develop as a result of stimulation of ovulation by hormones that cause increased functioning of the ovaries, as well as with abnormalities of the uterus, represented by its bicornuity or the presence of an intrauterine septum. And, finally, the development of two or more fetuses causes the abolition of hormonal contraceptives after their long-term use.

Six-fetal pregnancy

The most multiple pregnancy reliably known to doctors was nine children, several of whom were born alive, but died in childhood. Subsequently, it became known about the birth of seven and eight twins - in each case, only a few children survived from the pregnancy. Six Indian twins are the first children who managed to survive to one and all.

Now two sixes of twins born in 1983 and 1986 live in England, and two more “sixes” live in Italy and South Africa.

Today, the birth of six children is quite possible, since in recent years the quality of obstetric services and pediatric therapy, as well as the necessary medical equipment, has increased significantly. Today, doctors can successfully give birth to a woman with multiple pregnancies and save children born even fourteen weeks prematurely, whereas before they did not try to save such babies, considering the situation completely hopeless.

The deceased was considered one of the most prolific mothers in the world. Official confirmation of the number of Palestinian children was not found, according to Khaleej Times.

ON THIS TOPIC

Note that in the Guinness Book of Records, the place of honor of a prolific mother is occupied by the wife of a Russian peasant Fyodor Vasiliev. In the XVIII century, she gave birth to her husband also 69 children. It is believed that a woman gave birth to twins 16 times and triplets seven times. Four times she was able to give birth to four babies at once.

It is noteworthy that Fyodor Vasiliev had 18 more children from his second marriage. Thus, he had 87 offspring, but this was not enough for him to set a male record.

Earlier it was reported that in the Chinese province of Hebei, a woman six days after the birth of her son gave birth to two more twin girls. All children were born underweight, so now they are in the intensive care unit.

According to the midwife who took delivery, the pregnant woman had dizygotic triplets - two children developed in their own intrauterine membrane, while the third was separate from them. The doctor noted that this is the first such case in her medical practice over the past 20 years.

Many in this world want to become rich and famous, and in order to succeed, they are ready to work tirelessly. However, some chose a different path, deciding to devote themselves to procreation. Their main goal in life is to create a truly large cell of society, the number of children in which sometimes approaches a hundred. About those who have achieved considerable heights in this field and will be discussed.

In a large family, they do not click their beaks

Agustina Higuera, 29, mother of 14 daughters, plans to give birth until she gives birth to a boy. Iguera lives in Paris, Texas, and this year, contrary to all expectations, she gave birth to her third set of twins! On absolutely any day, a mother of many children fills the washing machine 42 times and sleeps only two hours. She cooks 8 different meals a day and also takes her children to school in a minibus.

The woman who holds the Guinness record for the most births

The highest number of children born to one mother (according to the official version) is 69. The wife of Fyodor Vasiliev (1707–1782), a peasant from Shuya, Russia, gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, seven triplets and four quadruplets. There are numerous sources proving that this seemingly amazing and statistically unlikely story is true. This case was reported to Moscow from the St. Nicholas Monastery in 1782, which recorded every birth. By then, only two of the children born between 1725 and 1765 had died in infancy.

Sperm donor with 800 children worldwide

This man is considered the most prolific sperm donor in the UK, because after the sale of his semen, 800 children were born! And his sperm costs 50 pounds per serving.

Simon Watson, 41, has been doling out his "magic potion" for 16 years and becoming a father about once a week. Now he sells his sperm on Facebook, has a lot of orders, and earns at least 40,000 pounds.

The woman gave birth to 15 children, 13 of them as a surrogate mother

The woman, who has been called "the UK's most prolific surrogate mother," said she was barred by doctors from giving birth - after she had given birth to 15 children in the past 20 years.

The name of the miracle mother is Carol Horlock, she is 49 years old, she is from the city of Colchester, Essex. She has 2 children of her own and claims to love children and has always had a "pregnancy addiction". She gave birth to 13 children as a surrogate mother, including twins and triplets. The last time she gave birth in April 2013 was a boy weighing 4kg 400g. “At that moment, I decided that it would be my last, but childbirth is addictive,” she said.

Superdad with many children

Daad Murad from the UAE has 96 children. To become a world record holder, he needs to try 4 more times. The 70-year-old superdad has over 170 children and grandchildren living in 17 different homes and emirates. His eldest son is 49 years old and his youngest daughter is just 16 months old. His 94 children are officially registered in the emirate of Ajman and his goal is to father 100 children before his death.

Father with 40 children by 20 different women

One of the UK's most prolific fathers has 40 children by 20 different women and says he wants more. Mike Holfin loves sex and doesn't believe in contraception, even though it's hard for him to remember the names of all his descendants. A 56-year-old former alcoholic from Ebb Vale tries to keep an eye on the tattoo of their names on his back. He says he's not sure about the exact numbers, but he has 22 children with his name and 18 with another.

A man whose goal is to adopt 1,000 children to spite Germany

A German uses a loophole in the law to become the legal father of 1,000 foreign children so they can claim German passports.

Jürgen Hass, who lives in Paraguay, says it is his personal "act of revenge" against the state. He has already adopted 300 children from seven countries and plans to adopt 700 more by the end of the year.

Under the Children's Rights Act, since 1998, a person can become the legal father of any child, as long as the mother gives permission, provided that there is no official information about the real father. After adoption, the child can receive a German passport and the right to social security, including education.

Hass, a former insurance agent who lives in Paraguay on a $900 a month pension, said he wants to help poor children live better lives.

Brazilian couple with thirteen sons who vow to keep trying for a daughter

If only they could trade places with family number 1.

Irenaeus Cruz and his wife, Jusiklida Silva, have been trying to have a daughter for almost 20 years. The couple continues to defy fate, replenishing their family only with boys.

This family from Conceiço de Coite, near Salvador in the state of Bahia, has enough boys to put together a football team. Children ranging in age from 1 month to 18 years old are even named after Brazilian football stars such as Ronaldo and Rivaldo.

We told you about the most prolific families on the planet, which, unambiguously, exceeded the norms for improving the demographic situation in their country. They did not limit themselves to one or two children, securing a prosperous old age for themselves. After all, children, as they say, are the flowers of life, and the more of them, the happier your life.

Cause surprise and admiration, because even one child has to spend a lot of time, effort and money. However, there are mothers who have given birth to several dozen children in their lives. This article is devoted to these heroines.

Fyodor Vasiliev's family

The record holder in the matter of childbearing is the wife of the Shuya peasant Fyodor Vasiliev. The largest mother in the world was able to give birth to 69 children. At the same time, the woman had 27 births: she gave birth to sixteen pairs of twins, seven triplets, and four times a woman gave birth to four children. According to surviving documents, the birth took place between 1725 and 1782.

History has not preserved the name that the most in the world bore. It is only known that of the 69 children born by her, only two did not survive infancy. The amazing family was even reported to the royal court.

By the way, after the death of his wife, he married again. The second wife bore him 18 children, so the Shuya peasant can also be safely called the world record holder. Most likely, no one will be able to improve the record of a simple peasant family from the Shuya district. By the way, historians believe that Vasiliev's first wife died before she became a mother, and the largest mother in the world in history is his second wife, who gave birth to 87 children of Fedor.

Elizabeth Greenhill

The British couple, William and Elizabeth Greenhill, had 39 children: 32 girls and 7 boys. The last child born to Elizabeth Greenhill was Thomas Greenhill, born in 1669. The boy was born after the death of his own father: William could not hold his last son in his arms. Subsequently, Thomas Greenhill became a great surgeon. Fame brought him the book "The Art of Embalming", which proved the need for embalming for the funeral of representatives of the English aristocracy. In addition, Thomas was the personal physician of Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk.

By the way, Elizabeth Greenhill holds the world record for the number of births: the world's largest mother in history gave birth 38 times, and all her children survived. Interestingly, the world's largest mother said that she would have given birth to at least two more children: unfortunately, due to the early death of her husband, she could not realize her dream.

Leontina Albina

Leontina Albina was born in Chile in 1926. This woman managed to give birth to 64 children. True, this information cannot be confirmed: this is very typical for Chile. The birth of "only" 54 children has been documented. Unfortunately, 11 of the children born by Leontina Albina died during a catastrophic earthquake, and only 40 were able to live to adulthood. In any case, the largest mother in the world, whose photo you see in this article, gave birth more than 50 times.

Arthur and Olivia Guinness

In 1761, the most famous brewer in the world married Olivia Whitmore. The couple had 21 children. True, only 10 children survived to adulthood. The three sons of Guinness subsequently continued the work of their father. They became the first representatives of the greatest brewing dynasty, or, as the jokers called it, “ginnastia”. Interestingly, the sons of Arthur Guinness turned out to be very enterprising and dexterous businessmen: under their skillful leadership, the brewery was able to survive the economic downturn that followed the Napoleonic wars.

Tatyana Sorokina: mother of 74 adopted children

At 18, Tatyana Sorokina married 23-year-old Mikhail. Mikhail grew up in an orphanage and dreamed of a large, friendly family. A year after the wedding, the first daughter was born, and soon a son was born. Unfortunately, the boy became seriously ill and became disabled. The Sorokins decided that two children would be enough for them.

Once a relative of the family asked the Sorokins to look after a little orphan girl. After some time, the girl was taken away and given to an orphanage. Tatyana and Mikhail found their little pupil and adopted her. Then three more children appeared in the family, whom Tatyana literally found on the street. The Sorokins could not stop there.

At the moment, the Sorokin family was able to accept and raise more than 70 children. Most of them have already grown up, received an education and live an independent life, visiting their adoptive parents only on holidays.

It is worth noting that some of the children who were accepted by Tatyana Sorokina had a disability: their mothers abandoned them even in the maternity hospital. However, regular trips to doctors, numerous surgeries and tireless care have borne fruit: now former refuseniks live a full life, forgetting about their own disability. Thus, Tatyana Sorokina is the largest mother in the world, having raised more than 70 adopted children.

Elena Shishkina

There is another heroic woman claiming this noble title. The most mother of many children in the world in our time is Elena Shishkina. The woman gave birth to two dozen children: in the Shishkin family there are 9 sons and 11 daughters. At the moment, the family lives in the Voronezh region.

The Shishkin family is listed in the Book After the birth of the twentieth child, the spouses and their children were offered to emigrate abroad. However, the high standard of living and generous financial support could not force the Shishkins to leave their homeland. The father of the family is confident that sooner or later the government will take due care of Russian families with many children.