Sometimes it is difficult for us to cope with 2-3 children, but imagine if we had 44! But this is no joke. A 39-year-old woman from Uganda is probably currently the most numerous mother in the world. She gave birth to 44 children – 6 of them ᴅɪᴇᴅ, and the remaining 38 live under one roof. 10 of them are girls, and the rest are boys.
Her name is Mariam Nabatanzi, and her life is not easy at all. Her story was shared by journalist Qasim Kaira, who visited the family.
When she was only 13 years old, several men came to her father’s house and brought him “gifts”. Her aunt then asks her to accompany her, and the two leave with the men. The girl does not suspect at all that her father sold her. Her aunt left her at the house of her future husband, who was 27 years older than Mariam.
Mariam says that her marriage was by no means easy. She was still a child herself, but she also had to take care of her husband’s children born from other women: “My husband had many children from previous relationships, and I had to take care of them because their mothers were scattered all over the country. Besides, he was very aggressive, he beat me constantly and threatened to ᴋɪʟʟ me,” says Mariam.
The very next year, Mariam gave birth to twins. The girl dreamed of having 6 children, and after giving birth to three more pairs of twins, she decided that eight were enough for her. She went to the doctor and asked him to do something because she didn’t want to have any more children. However, he told her that she was too ꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟᴇ and that the procedure might be ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs to her health.
With each ᴏᴠᴜʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, Mariam’s ovaries released several eggs, which increased the chance of pregnancy. The doctors there explained to her that if these ᴜɴꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴢᴇᴅ ᴇɢɢs accumulated after her ᴛᴜʙᴇs were tied, she could lose her life. She most likely inherited this condition from her mother because there were many twins and triplets in Mariam’s family as well. Her father had 45 children, albeit by several different women.
After hearing the news from the doctors, Mariam became pregnant with quintuplets. After the children turned 23, Mariam again sought the help of doctors, but they again refused to perform the procedure. They probably weren’t very competent themselves.
A few years ago, she decided to try an 𝐈𝐔𝐃, but it led to ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴs, and Mariam felt very ill, constantly vomiting, and finally even fell into a month-long coma. Naturally, the 𝐈𝐔𝐃 had to be removed, and Mariam continued to bear children.
All of Mariam’s children were born at her home, only her last child was born by ᴄᴀᴇsᴀʀᴇᴀɴ sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ in a hospital.
She says that she does not regret having so many children, but she regrets that they practically grew up without a father. She says that her husband was constantly absent, sometimes for a whole year, and often chose the name of his newborn child over the phone. He did not pay any attention to the children and did not pay for their maintenance. Mariam did everything herself.
She says that when her husband does come home, he sneaks in late at night and then leaves early in the morning. “I endured all these humiliations because my aunt told me to endure everything and that my main concern should be the children,” says Mariam.
Most of her children are in school or have already graduated. One of her first-born daughters is a nurse. “I hope my children will finish school because they all have great ambitions to become doctors, teachers, or lawyers. I want them all to achieve their dreams – something I didn’t have the opportunity to do,” she says.
In order to cover the expenses of her family, Mariam does many things – collects herbs, bakes cakes, works on construction projects in the village, braids brides’ hair, makes decorations for special occasions, and what not. “I know these children are a gift from God, so I do everything I can to take care of them,” she says.
Mariam appeals to all parents in her homeland: “Stop selling your daughters and marrying them off so early. Your daughters are suffering a lot, and the pain of depriving them of parental love is never forgotten.”
“I will always fight so that my children have something to eat. I will never abandon them, no matter how hard it is for me every day,” she says, and this time she addresses the men: “Don’t forget your responsibilities, because raising children is the responsibility of both parents.”
