Mum With 'Unusually Large Ovaries' Gives Birth To 44 Children By Age Of 36

A mum in Uganda with 'unusually large ovaries' had 44 children by the age of 36.

Mariam Nabatanzi - who is now 39 - has given birth 20 times, delivering six sets of twins, four sets of triplets and five sets of quadruplets, according to Reuters.

She was married to her husband - who is 28 years her senior - when she was just 12, and gave birth to their first set of twins a year later. But three years ago, Mariam was abandoned by her husband, leaving her to care for the 38 surviving children they had together.

After she gave birth to her first set of twins, Mariam went to see the doctor, who told her she had unusually large ovaries and taking contraceptives such as the pill could result in health complications.

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She now struggles to provide for her family in a village north of Kampala, where her children aged between two and 23 live across four cramped cement block houses.

Mariam's life has been marred by tragedy, to the point that she doesn't think she has experienced joy since she was born.

Mariam's mum left her, her five siblings and her dad when she was just three days old. Her dad then remarried and the stepmother killed her siblings by mixing glass with their food. Mariam only avoided the same fate because she was visiting a relative at the time.

Following this ordeal, she always wanted to have a large family, with around six children, but looking after 38 on her own is a constant struggle.

Her children have to pack into rooms and sleep on metal bunk beds and dirty floors, with everyone helping to muck in with chores. In a typical day, she says the family consume around 25kg of maize flour.

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In order to bring in money, Mariam has done all kinds of work, from decorating and hairdressing, to collecting and selling scrap metal.

Her eldest, Ivan Kibuka, had to drop out of school to help out his mum.

He said: "Mum is overwhelmed, the work is crushing her, we help where we can, like in cooking and washing, but she still carries the whole burden for the family. I feel for her."

Having endured such a difficult childhood, and having lost six children of her own, Mariam's biggest wish is for her children to be happy.

She said: "I have grown up in tears, my man has passed me through a lot of suffering. All my time has been spent looking after my children and working to earn some money.

"I started taking on adult responsibilities at an early stage. I have not had joy, I think, since I was born."

Topics: World News, Weird, Health

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey