The woman gave birth to a 44 child from one man, and he left her
'26.05.2021'
Source: Lenta.ru
Mariam Nabatanzi Babirye from Uganda has always dreamed of a happy big family with six children. As a result, in almost 40 years she became the mother of 44 offspring not needed by her only father. Doctors all the time only shrugged and forbade her to protect themselves. We tell the incredible story of the most prolific woman in Africa.
It’s not possible to say exactly how old the main character of the story is: she told reporters of the media portal Pulse Live Kenya in 2017 that 39 wrote to her Lenta.ru. Kenya Citizen TV admitted to the 2018 plot of the year that it was 38. Most likely, the latter are right, as indirect facts speak about it - it is reported that she was married in 12 years in 1993. Only the number of children remains unchanged: Mariam Nabatanzi Babirye has given birth to a 44 child in her entire life, 38 of them are still alive today. Among her children are six pairs of twins, four triples and three quadruples. Ten of them are girls, all the rest are boys. The oldest of them is 24, and the youngest is two.
Sad Beginning
Little Babirye was not very lucky with her family: her mother died when the girl was very young, and her father soon married again. The stepmother immediately disliked his five children from his previous marriage. Once she decided to get rid of them: she prepared food for them with broken glass and served them on the table. All the brothers and sisters of the girl died on the spot, but she was lucky to run away from the house on an ill-fated day.
Then the stepmother decided to get rid of the stepdaughter in another way, and even make money from it. In 1993, a 12-year-old Ugandan found an 40-year-old fiancé. “I did not know that I was being married. That day people came to our house and gave different things to my father. When it was time for the guests to leave, Aunt took me with her. I thought I was escorting her, but when we reached her house, she passed me on to a man, ”she later recalled that day.
Marriage life Babirye was not easy: in addition to the hassle of household chores, she had to look after the numerous children of her husband from his past wives living throughout Uganda. If the girl could not cope, dared or simply irritated her husband with something, he did not disdain to raise a hand against her.
Shortly after the wedding, the father-in-law Babirye gave them a small piece of land so that they could build a house and have their own children. The young wife dreamed of six. When she was 13 years old, her first scions were born: a pair of twins. Two years later she gave birth to triplets. And after a year and seven months - fours. Ugandan woman was not very surprised at her fertility: twins were repeatedly born in her family. “My father conceived 45 children with different women, and they were all twins: twins, triplets, fours and even fives,” she explained.
“If you don’t give birth, you die”
After the sixth birth Babirya had already 18 children. She decided it was time to stop, and turned to a local doctor. He was extremely incompetent, and an uneducated woman could not understand this. The doctor told her that she "suffers from an overabundance of eggs," and if she stops giving birth, she may die. "Unfertilized eggs accumulate and can not only destroy the reproductive system, but also pose a danger to the life of a woman," doctor Ahmed Kikomenko told her.
Dr. Charles Kiggundu, president of the Association of Gynecologists and Obstetricians of Uganda, who works in the country's largest hospital, believes that the fertility of Babirye is hereditary. “She has a genetic predisposition for hyperovulation, that is, the appearance of two or more eggs during ovulation in one cycle,” he explained. “Sometimes during a cycle, ovulation does not occur, then the next time the ovaries release several eggs at once. Because of this, there is a higher probability that they will all be fertilized, but it is also highly likely that they will all die. Babirye was lucky, ”Kiggundu added. He noted that this condition could be corrected, but "because of its rarity, many doctors do not know about it."
The doctor suggested that his colleagues took Babirye's condition for ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome - a rare complication that occurs after an in vitro fertilization procedure (IVF). If doctors incorrectly calculated the dose of stimulating hormones, then the patient's abnormally enlarged ovaries, fluid accumulates in the abdomen and lungs, and the risk of a possible rupture of cysts and the development of blood clots in blood vessels increases. This disease is indeed a danger to the life of the expectant mother, but the innate tendency to hyperovulation, like Babirye, is not.
In the 23 year, with 25 children, she again went to the hospital with a request to do something: the pills and injections did not help her. But again I came across the same recommendation: “I was examined in the country's largest hospital and was advised to continue giving birth.” In desperation, she established the intrauterine device, but the body did not take it: "I was constantly vomiting, I lost consciousness, and then I spent a month in a coma." In December 2016, she gave birth to her last child with a cesarean section. She went for surgery because she did not fully recover from the coma due to the installation of the helix. Babirye once again asked the doctors to do so that she could no longer give birth. After the birth, the obstetrician told her that "he cut her uterus from the inside." Kiggundu believes that her fallopian tubes were bandaged, and this is the most reliable method of female contraception known today.
Father is a good lad
The mother-heroine confesses that 25 years of marriage brought her only humiliation and suffering: “My husband constantly tortured me and beat me up, as soon as I tried to object to him on any issue. Especially when I swore that he came home drunk. He never provided for us or cared about our well-being. Children do not really know who he is, because he is never at home. He gives the names to his offspring by telephone. ”
The eldest son of Babirye, 24-year-old Charles Musisi, admitted that their father was long gone, and they had to bring up the same mother. “I can calmly say that my brothers and sisters do not know what he looks like. The last time I saw him was in 13 years. ”
Her husband is at home about once a year. Late in the evening, he secretly sneaks into the bedroom to his wife, and runs away early in the morning. “I tolerate these humiliations, because my aunt advised me to endure the burden of marriage and live for the sake of children. She told me not to have children from other men, ”she explained.
Despite everything that happened, the Ugandan believes that the main pride of the woman is her family, so it must be preserved at all costs. “Married life is never easy, women are always obliged to endure, it has been since the times of our great-grandmothers. Over time, patience will pay off, in my case - children, care of which brings me happiness. ” She advised men not to forget about responsibility to their wives and children. And yet - never marry young daughters for the sake of quick money. “You will break the life of not only them, but also your grandchildren,” she added sadly.
Hundreds of thousands for food
Babirye has no garden or farm, so she has to buy food. A woman requires at least 100 thousand Ugandan shillings per day (1743 rubles). On them she buys 22 kilograms of cornmeal, seven kilograms of beans, two and a half kilograms of sugar and three briquettes of soap. It all goes away in one day. “God is good to me, so my children eat every day and do not go hungry,” she says. Now Ugandan saves money for the installation of plumbing. She is going to sell water that is not so easy to get in the village: a pot of water can cost 800 Ugandan shillings (14 rubles). Water hawker David Kazimba confesses that she brings water cans to the 15 woman every day: “I've known her for eight years now, she is very sociable. Sometimes people tease her for so many children, but she just ignores their attacks. ”
To earn a living for children, Babirye makes haircuts and styling, works as a decorator at various events and dresses up brides before the wedding, sews clothes, bakes cakes and lays bricks. She also grows and sells healing herbs from a variety of diseases. “I undertake any work if it brings money. I have not pity myself for a long time, because I know that children are a gift from God. I have to appreciate them, so I do everything to make them feel good. ”
Most Babirye worries because of heart problems with her five year old son. Every week she spends 120 thousands of Ugandan shillings (about two thousand rubles) to buy medicine for him. In January, doctors from the central hospital suggested she send the boy for an operation in India. However, for this she will have to accumulate 35 millions of Ugandan shillings (610 thousand rubles). While the woman does not know where to get them, but she will certainly do it. The mother-heroine claims that she herself does not suffer from any diseases and easily endured numerous births until the last child was born by caesarean section. After that, her back began to hurt in the evenings.
Another major cost item for women is a decent education for children. Ugandan herself failed to complete two classes of elementary school, and for this she blames her father. Her older children studied as a nurse and a builder, but have not yet found a job. Nine go to secondary school, everyone else is either in elementary school, or is still very small: “I hope all my children will go to school and finish it because all of them have big ambitions: they want to be doctors, lawyers, teachers . I want them to be able to fulfill their dreams, because I could not do it. ” However, sometimes her children have to stay at home: it is difficult for Babirye alone to pay for school education for all children.
Older children help Babirye do housework and sit with younger sisters and brothers. But the woman emphasizes that she loves taking care of children herself and tries every day to pay attention to each child: “My children are my joy. They are my happiness, not a burden. And I'm proud to care about them. I do not get tired of cooking, washing and bathing. Children grow better if they have mother’s love and care. ” She sleeps a maximum of five hours a day.
