Lina Medina, the youngest confirmed mother

Lina with her baby Gerardo

Lina Medina is a Peruvian girl who broke the record by being the world’s youngest confirmed mother at age 5years, 7month and 17 days. She was born September 27, 1933 in Ticrapo, Peru to Victoria Losea and Tiburelo Silversmith Medina. She was the  eight of the nine children of Medina a peasant farmer from a small Peruvian village in the mountainous Huancavelica region.

Lima's parents noticed an unusual increase in her abdominal size and initially they assumed she suffering from an abdominal tumor as it will be unusual to conclude that a 5 years old girl is pregnant. Afterwards she was taken to the hospital, but to the suprise of her parents, she was diagnosed by Dr. Gerardo lozada in Pisco, Peru, to be seven month old pregnant. Even Dr. Gerardo Lozada was amazed that he had to take Lima to other Peru’s specialist hospital to confirm the case by other doctors.

Dr. Gerardo Lozada became Lima's attending doctor; however the case of Luna's pregnancy was build around a rare condition called precocious puberty. This rare condition was established to have being the facilitating criteria for Lima's pregnancy.

Precocious puberty is characterized by exceptional early onset of sexual development or maturity at an early age. Medically most girls begin to notice the onset of puberty at age 10 or 11 and at age 12 in boys. It was also reported that Lima had seen her first menstruation as young as at eight months old, as reported by Dr. Edmundo Escomel in the medical journal La presse medicale. However some reports also claim that she had seen her period at age three. 

Lima was documented to have developed a prominent breast at age four and by age five her pelvic had became widen and advanced bone maturation was noticed.

Mr Medina, Luna's father was arrested on the ground of sexual abuse leading to Lima's pregnancy but the case was dismissed and he was released for lack of evidence.

Dr Gerardo,Lina and the baby

Lima gave birth on May 14, 1939, on mother’s day aged five years, seven month and 21 days by a cesarean section caused by her small pelvis performed by Dr. Gerardo Lozada and Dr. Busalleu, assisted by Dr.Colareta who provided the anesthesia. Medina's son weighted 2.7kg (6 pounds) at birth and was medically mature and in good health. The child was named Gerardo after her doctor. However Young Gerardo grew up thinking Medina was his sister, but he latter found out she was his mother. Several attempts were made to enquire from Lima the true identity of her son’s father but all attempts weren’t successful because she refused to give any interview or disclose any clue on the issue.

Many people believe the story was a lie, because it is impossible for a five years old girl to give birth, but a number of doctors have verified the claim on biopsies, x-ray of the fetal skeleton and other accompanied photographs taken. There were two photographs to the claim, the first one was taken around April 1939 when she was seven-and-a-half month old into pregnancy and the second picture was taken when the child was eleven month old.

Lima's son grew up healthy and died at the age of 40 in 1979, from bone marrow disease.

Lima worked as a secretary in Dr. Lozada's clinic and she was helped to put her son through school and she later married Raul Jurado in the 1970s and gave birth to her second son which name was unknown. Lima Medina is still alive hope she someday unfold the mystery behind her story.