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The record for the number of children born to one woman is held by Valentina Vasilyeva, the wife of the Russian peasant Fiodor Vasilyev.
She gave birth for an incredible 76 years
– from 1725 to 1765 she gave birth to 69 children – 16 pairs of twins, 7 sets of triplets and 4 sets of quadruplets.
67 children enjoyed a good childhood (1 pair of twins died shortly after birth).
Valentina is considered the most prolific mother in human history by the Guinness Book of Records.
1 mother and 69 children:
4 × 4 = 16
7 × 3 = 21
16 × 2 = 32
27 births, 69 children
The first mention of Fiodor Vasilyev’s children is found in The Gentleman ‘s Magazine from 1783 (number 53, p. 753, London).
It states that although this information is incredible, it deserves full confidence because it was sent by English merchants from St. Petersburg directly to his relatives in England; it also mentions that the peasant would be presented to the empress. “
The same figures are given in I. N. Boltin’s work on Russian history from 1788 and in A. P. Bashutsky’s book “Panorama of St. Petersburg” in 1834.
Some sources have questioned the veracity of this information. It seems that no one seriously verified their source, so it is likely that the truth will never come to light.
Guinness record
Nevertheless, the data about the children of this man and woman are included in the Guinness Book of Records
Interestingly, Fiodor had other children besides those he sired with his first wife. His second wife bore him another 18 children – 6 pairs of twins and 2 sets of triplets.
Fiodor thus became the father of 87 children, at least 82 of whom reached adulthood.
Unfortunately there are no reliable photographs of his family
It is published in this article only as an illustration of the story, although we have no evidence that Fiodor, Valentina and their children actually appear in them.
Although Valentina Vasilyeva’s record high number of children can hardly be considered an indisputable historical fact, it is quite possible that she had a genetic predisposition to hyperovulation (when many eggs are released at once during ovulation).
This increases the likelihood of multiple pregnancies.
Even from a biological point of view, it is possible that a woman could give birth up to 27 times in her lifetime!
