The girl who gave birth aged FIVE: Incredible mystery of the child who became the world’s

More than 85 years on, the story of Lina Marcela Medina remains one of the world’s greatest mysteries. 

It is a case that baffled doctors and made global headlines – reported alongside, and at times even ahead of, updates from the Second World War. 

While bombs fell over Europe, international newspapers carried photographs of a five-year-old child from the Andes who had given birth, sparking both disbelief and fascination. 

To this day, the identity of the man who impregnated her remains unknown. 

In 1939, in a remote Peruvian village, neighbours began to suspect five-year-old Lina was a kind of Virgin Mary, that she was carrying the son of ‘the sun God’.

Her family, a peasant household living in extreme poverty, first turned to healers and shamans to explain her swollen abdomen, thinking she had a demon inside her.

When local remedies failed, Lina’s father took her to hospital in Pisco where doctors initially suspected a tumour.

She was, in fact, seven months pregnant. 

Then, at only five years old, seven months and 21 days, Lina gave birth on 14 May 1939. 

Surgeons performed a C-section and delivered a healthy boy weighing almost 6lb (2.7kg), named Gerardo in honour of the attending physician.

Gerardo grew up believing Lina was his sister and is reported to have only learned the truth when he was ten.

Examinations documented that Lina had fully developed sexual organs due to abnormally early puberty.

Her case is recognised as the world’s youngest confirmed motherhood, supported by medical records and independent verification.

Throughout her lifetime, she has consistently rejected any interview with the press – including a request from news agency Reuters in 2002 – as she no longer wishes to ‘be involved in the matter’.

Whether she is still alive remains uncertain – if she is, she is currently 92 years old.

Public records and media coverage reveal almost nothing about Gerardo’s life except he died in 1979 at the age of 40 from a bone marrow disease, predeceasing his mother.

Lina was born on 23 September 1933 in Ticrapo, Peru to silversmith Tiburelo Medina and Victoria Losea. She was one of nine children.

After pregnancy was confirmed, police opened an investigation focused on sexual assault as all available evidence indicate Lina was a victim of rape.

Her father was arrested and held for several days on suspicion but was released when no evidence or witnesses emerged.

Attention then shifted to an uncle or one of her brothers, one of whom had mental health problems, and to a family gardener who disappeared after the pregnancy became known.

Some reports claim she was attacked during festivities near her village.

The case was eventually dropped and the perpetrator was never identified nor did Lina ever disclose who fathered the child or the circumstances of the impregnation.

Medical reports state the girl presented extreme precocious puberty – a doctor wrote her first menstrual bleeding occurred at eight months.

By early childhood, she had pubic hair and significant breast development as well as a fully functioning reproductive system by the time she reached five years of age.

The decision to carry out a caesarean section reflected the risk posed by her child-sized pelvis.

Doubts over Lina’s case being a hoax have been countered by documentation including X-rays of the foetal skeleton taken before delivery, clinical notes, photographs and later expert assessments.

The account has also received recognition from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Besides medical interest, Lina’s extraordinary situation drew commercial interest: a U.S baby-products company negotiated with her father and signed a contract offering products and income in exchange for controlled publicity to secure Lina and Gerardo’s future.

The contract was later voided when Peruvian authorities learned of the agreement: they issued a supreme resolution placing the mother and son under state guardianship and assumed responsibility for their care.

Former President Oscar Benavides introduced measures to prevent their exploitation and promised a lifelong grant. However, the money never arrived.

Guardianship was later returned to Lina’s father and the pair returned to their village in poverty – locals argue the state removed a potential lifeline without replacing it.

The San Antonio Light in Texas reported in July 1939 that a U.S film company had also offered $5,000 for filming rights which was reportedly rejected.

Though little is known about her later life, Lina reportedly relocated to Lima and worked as a secretary at the same clinic she had delivered her son. Her wages were allegedly used to support Gerardo through school.

She later married and in 1972, at 38, she birthed a second son (conceived by her husband).

The couple spent several years in Mexico but were forced to return to Peru as their home was demolished in the 1980s to make space for a highway.

In Peru, they settled in a poor, high-crime district of Lima nicknamed ‘Little Chicago’ and by the 2000s, Lina was reported to be living with her husband in cramped conditions in the same area.

Lina’s second child is believed to have remained in Mexico.

In 2002, Peruvian obstetrician Jose Sandoval, who went to author a book about the case, long argued that Lina’s treatment reflected the state’s wider neglect of its vulnerable citizens. He believes ‘had it been any other country, Lina would have received special care’.

He directly contacted the office of Peru’s First Lady in the early 2000s to grant Lina a life pension as partial reparations.

At the time, a government spokeswoman said they were ‘totally willing to help her’ but an official insisted they would first need to speak to Lina about her needs before taking action.

Yet, she refused to speak with anyone.

In explaining why, decades on, his wife dismissed the potential opportunity, her husband said: ‘She thinks governments never deliver. Maybe this is another promise that will never come true’.

Despite efforts, contact with Lina has never been re-established and she maintains her silence until today.

Her story is one the world will never fully understand and one that Lina herself has chosen to leave untold.