South African woman claims to have given birth to a record-breaking 10 children

A woman has reportedly given birth to ten children by Caesarean section (file image)
AFP via Getty Images
Leah Sinclair8 June 2021

A woman has said she’s given birth to ten children in what would be a world record.

Gosiame Thamara Sithole, 37, gave birth to seven boys and three girls by Caesarean section at a hospital in Pretoria, South Africa on Monday, her husband Tebogo Tsotetsi said.

Mr Tsotetsi told local outlet Pretoria News about the birth of the decuplets on Monday night, saying he is “happy” and “emotional”.

Mr Tsotetsi said: ‘It’s seven boys and three girls. She was seven months and seven days pregnant.

“I am happy. I am emotional. I can’t talk much.”

The multi-birth has yet to be confirmed by doctors.

Speaking to the newspaper prior to the birth, Ms Sithole, who also has six-year-old twins, said doctors initially told her that she was pregnant with six children.

But a later scan showed that she was pregnant with eight babies.

It was only while undergoing surgery that the other two babies were discovered.

“I am shocked by my pregnancy. It was tough at the beginning. I was sick. It was hard for me,” Ms Sithole told local media.

“I don’t feel the pain anymore, but it’s still a bit tough. I just pray for God to help me deliver all my children in a healthy condition, and for me and my children to come out alive. I would be pleased about it.”

Ms Sithole’s case comes just a month after a Malian woman gave birth to the world’s first live nonuplets in Morocco.

Ms Cisse, from Timbuktu, was taken to a hospital in the Malian capital of Bamako in March.

She was kept under observation at the hospital before being flown to Morocco to be cared for at a specialist hospital after the country’s president intervened.

Ms Cisse gave birth to five girls and four boys via caesarean section on May 4 in a complicated operation that almost caused her to die from blood loss.

The babies were delivered by 10 doctors and 25 nurses who revealed the babies were born significantly under-weight and had “deficiencies in everything”, but are now in a stable condition.

Ms Cisse is thought to be staying nearby the hospital after coming out of intensive care, where she was recovering from a ruptured artery during the birth.

Reports show that only two other sets of nonuplets have been recorded since the 1970s, but none of the babies survived.

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