Woman who gave birth 44 times banned from having more babies
A Ugandan woman whom locals have dubbed "the world's most fertile woman" has been told that she is no longer allowed to have children, Australia's 7 News reported.
Mariam Nabatanzi has given birth to 44 kids — including four sets of twins, five sets of triplets and five quadruplets — since having her first child at age 13, one year after she was sold into marriage.
Doctors have now banned Nabatanzi from having any more babies. The single mother, who earlier this year was the subject of an Al Jazeera mini-documentary, works a handful of jobs to take care of her 38 living children.
Nabatanzi works as a tailor, hairdresser and herbalist to support her family, and has said that, above all, she wants her children to receive an education.
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"Generally, I have tried to educate them. My dream is that my children go to school. They can lack anything (else), but they must go to school," Nabatazni said in the Al Jazeera documentary.
Dr. Chales Kiggundu, a gynecologist interviewed in the documentary, said Nabatanzi's incredible number of pregnancies were the result of hyperovulation, which is when the body releases more than one egg during the menstrual cycle. The phenomenon increases a woman's chances of having twins, triplets or quadruplets.
"You find that some of the women have the potential of having between 10 to 12 eggs that come at the beginning of the month," Kiggundu said. "Some of the have the potential to have more than one fertilization take place."
Nabatanzi has made attempts to stop having children in the past, including using an IUD after her 18th baby was born, a 2018 BET article reported. However, the device made her so sick that she went into a coma.
According to the BET article, doctors have told Nabatanzi that, given her condition, certain contraception measures could be incredibly dangerous to her health.
Despite these challenges, Nabatanzi said she's grateful for every single one of her kids.
"Feeling sorry for myself is something I dropped because I know these children are a gift from God that I have to treasure, so I try my best to fend for them," she told BET.
