Mariam Nabatanzi
Nabatanzi with grandchild in 2023
Born
Mariam Nabatanzi Babirye

c. 1980 (age 43–44)
Uganda
Occupations
  • Tailor
  • hairdresser
Known forMost Fertile Woman in the World
Children44[lower-alpha 1]

Mariam Nabatanzi Babirye (born c. 1980)[1] also known as Maama Uganda or Mother Uganda, is a Ugandan woman known for birthing 44 children.[2][3] As of April 2023, her eldest children were twenty-eight years old, and the youngest were six years old.[2] She is a single mother, who was abandoned by her husband in 2015. He reportedly feared the responsibility of supporting so many children.[4][5]

Born around 1980, Babirye first gave birth when she was 13 years old, having been forced into marriage the year prior. By the age of 36, she had given birth to a total of 44 children, including three sets of quadruplets, four sets of triplets, and six sets of twins, for a total of fifteen births. The number of multiple births was caused by a rare genetic condition causing hyperovulation as a result of enlarged ovaries. In 2019, when Babirye was aged 40, she underwent a medical procedure to prevent any further pregnancies.[6] She lives in the village of Kasawo, located in the Mukono district of Central Uganda.[7]

Life and background

In 1993, Babirye was sold into child marriage at the age of twelve to a violent 40-year-old man. A year later, she first became a mother in 1994 with a set of twins, followed by triplets in 1996. She then gave birth to a set of quadruplets 19 months later. She never found the rate at which she was procreating unusual due to her family history; she had been quoted as saying: "My father gave birth to forty-five children with different women, and these all came in quintuplets, quadruples, twins and triplets."[6]

In Uganda, there are some communities that practice early child marriages, where a young girl is given off to an older man in exchange for a dowry that most frequently consists of cows. Babirye's marriage was an example of this.[6] At the age of twenty-three, she had given birth to twenty-five children, but was advised to continue giving birth, as it would help reduce further fertility.[8] Those affected with Babirye's condition are often advised that abstinence from pregnancy can cause health issues.[9]

According to Charles Kiggundu, a gynecologist at the Mulago National Specialised Hospital, after giving birth to her last set of twins via cesarian section, Babirye underwent tubal ligation, preventing any further pregnancies.[6] One of the boys from that set of twins died in childbirth, being her most recent child to pass away.

After she gave birth to forty-two children, her husband ran away from her due to his inability to provide for a large amount of children, and he later sold off the homestead where Babirye and her children were living. She and her children would later be hosted by her grandmother.[10] She later realized that her absentee husband had left her pregnant with twins. Babirye's grandmother died shortly after, leaving Babirye in a chaotic scramble for the homestead with other relatives, but they later agreed that Babirye could take full ownership of the homestead via installation payments; as of April 2023, she still owes a balance before she can assume full ownership of the homestead.[11] Babirye is currently a single mother, caring for her children by herself.

Living situation

Babirye and her family (totalling approximately sixty-six people, including her children, grandchildren and some daughters in law), survive primarily through donors who deliver food, beds, and other necessities. She struggles to provide for her thirty-eight living children, her daughters-in-law, and her grandchildren. Babirye works as a part-time tailor, herbalist, and hairdresser.[12][7][13] She is reliant on donations, as her husband took the family's money when he abandoned her and the children for which he was responsible.[14]

The complex that Babirye and her progeny live in is composed of five cement block houses, with corrugated iron roofs. According to the Uganda Times, the complex has seventeen rooms, of which fifteen are bedrooms and two are living and dining rooms, all reportedly without any tables or chairs. Nine of the bedrooms are without any beds and with dirty floors, and the other six bedrooms have a total of eight bunk beds, four of which are not in usable condition. The other four beds accommodate a total of twenty-four children on worn-out mattresses.[7][1]

Plans

According to the Uganda Times, Babirye hopes to get UGX 5 million (about $1,400 USD) to pay off the remaining balance on her family's living complex to her ex-husband's relatives to take full ownership.[7]

She also hopes to acquire new iron sheets to replace the leaking roofs, twenty-five new bunk beds, and sixty-six new mattresses, so that each person has their own bed. She further hopes to acquire some land for cultivating food and rearing animals with her family workforce, and to achieve financial security for her dependents. She also hopes to start a restaurant, a bridal salon, and an events management service to employ her children.[7]

Notes

  1. ↑ Six children are deceased.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ugandan mum of multiple quadruplets struggles to provide for 38 kids". Reuters. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  2. 1 2 Lavender, Jane (29 June 2020). "World's most fertile woman with 44 children stopped from having more". Mirror. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  3. ↑ Williams, Chad (29 November 2021). "Meet, 'Mama Uganda', the woman who birthed 44 children by the age of 36". African News Agency. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  4. ↑ Digital, Standard. "World's most fertile woman from Uganda with 44 kids stopped from having more". Standard Entertainment. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  5. ↑ Margaritoff, Marco (17 October 2019). "Meet 'The World's Most Fertile Woman' Who Birthed 44 Children By The Time She Was 36". All That's Interesting. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "At 37, she has given birth to 38 children". Monitor. 6 January 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Meet The World's 'Most Fertile' abandoned mother of 44 Children in Uganda!". The Uganda Times. 2 April 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  8. ↑ Awal, Mohammed (16 October 2019). "The world's most fertile woman is in Uganda, and she has 44 children". Face2Face Africa. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  9. ↑ "Woman with rare medical condition gives birth to 44 kids by age 40". nationalpost. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  10. ↑ "Meet Mariam Nabatanzi, Ugandan Woman Who Gave Birth To 44 Children". www.darpanmagazine.com. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  11. ↑ "Ugandan mother of 38 — from 15 pregnancies — now a struggling single parent after husband clears out". ABC News. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  12. ↑ "Mother banned from having more babies after giving birth 44 times". 7NEWS. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  13. ↑ Lavender, Jane (4 January 2020). "World's most fertile woman who had 44 children heartbreaking wish for her kids". mirror. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  14. ↑ Desk, Sentinel Digital (29 November 2021). "Ugandan Women at 40 Gave Birth to 44 Kids From One Man: Know Her Story - Sentinelassam". www.sentinelassam.com. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
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