Today, few people decide to have more than two children. Large families cause surprise and admiration, because even one child has to spend a lot of time, effort and money. However, there are mothers who have given birth to several dozen children in their lifetime. These heroines are dedicated to this article.
Family of Fedor Vasilyev
The spouse of the Shuysky peasant Fedor Vasiliev is considered the record holder in childbearing . The largest mother in the world was able to give birth to 69 children. Moreover, the woman had 27 births: she gave birth to sixteen pairs of twins, seven triplets and four times the woman gave birth to four children. According to the surviving documents, the birth took place between 1725 and 1782.
History did not preserve the name that was borne by the largest mother in the world. It is only known that out of 69 children born to her, only two did not survive infancy. An amazing family was even reported to the royal court.
By the way, after the death of his wife, Fedor Vasiliev married again. The second wife bore him 18 children, so the Shuy peasant can also be called a world record holder. Most likely, nobody will be able to improve the record of a simple peasant family from Shuysky county. By the way, historians believe that the first wife of Vasiliev died before she became a mother, and the largest mother in the world in history is his second wife, who gave birth to 87 children of Fedor.
Elizabeth Greenhill
The couple from the UK, William and Elizabeth Greenhill, had 39 children: 32 girls and 7 boys. The last child born to Elizabeth Greenhill was Thomas Greenhill, who was born in 1669. The boy was born after the death of his father: William was unable to hold his last son in his arms. Subsequently, Thomas Greenhill became a great surgeon. The fame brought him the book "The Art of Embalming", which proved the need for embalming for the funeral of representatives of the English aristocracy. In addition, Thomas was the personal physician of Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk.
By the way, Elizabeth Greenhill holds the world record for the number of births: the largest mother in the world in history has given birth 38 times, and all her children survived. Interestingly, the mother of many children in the world said that she would have given birth to at least two more children: unfortunately, because of the early death of her husband, she could not realize her dream.
Leontina Albina
Leontina Albina was born in Chile in 1926. This woman managed to give birth to 64 children. True, this information cannot be confirmed: for Chile, this is very characteristic. The birth of “only” 54 children has been documented. Unfortunately, 11 of the children born by Leontina Albina died during the catastrophic earthquake, and only 40 were able to survive to adulthood. In any case, the largest mother in the world, whose photo you see in this article, gave birth more than 50 times.
Arthur and Olivia Guinness
In 1761, the most famous brewer in the world married Olivia Whitmore. The couple had 21 children. True, only 10 children survived to adulthood. The three sons of Guinness subsequently continued the work of their father. They became the first representatives of the greatest brewing dynasty, or, as the jokers called it, “ginnasti”. Interestingly, the sons of Arthur Guinness turned out to be very entrepreneurial and dexterous businessmen: under their able guidance, the brewery was able to survive the economic downturn that followed the Napoleonic Wars.
Tatyana Sorokina: mother of 74 adopted children
At 18, Tatyana Sorokina married 23-year-old Mikhail. Michael grew up in an orphanage and dreamed of a large, friendly family. A year after the wedding, the first daughter was born, soon a son was born. Unfortunately, the boy became seriously ill and became disabled. The Sorokins decided that two children would be enough for them.
Once a relative of the family asked the Sorokins to follow the little orphan girl. After some time, the girl was taken away and sent to an orphanage. Tatyana and Mikhail found their little pupil and adopted her. Then three more children appeared in the family, whom Tatyana literally found on the street. The Sorokins could not stop there.
At the moment, the Sorokin family was able to adopt and raise more than 70 children. Most of them have already grown up, received education and live an independent life, visiting foster parents only on holidays.
It is worth noting that some of the children, who were accepted by Tatyana Sorokina, had a disability: their mothers refused them even in the hospital. However, regular visits to doctors, numerous surgeries and tireless care bore fruit: now former refuseniks live a full life, forgetting about their own disabilities. Thus, Tatyana Sorokina is the largest mother in the world who raised more than 70 adopted children.
Elena Shishkina
There is another heroic woman who claims this noble title. The largest mother in the world in our time is Elena Shishkina. The woman gave life to two dozen children: in the Shishkin family, 9 sons and 11 daughters. Currently, the family lives in the Voronezh region.
The Shishkin family is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. After the advent of the twentieth child, spouses and their children were invited to emigrate abroad. However, a high standard of living and generous financial support could not force the Shishkins to leave their homeland. The father of the family is confident that sooner or later the government will take due care of Russian families with many children.