Lina Medina was born on September 23, 1933, in the remote Andean village of Ticrapo, Peru—a place where the air is thin and the mountains seem to whisper secrets. As a Libra, she carried that quiet balance through a life that would stun the world. At just five years and seven months old, Lina became the youngest confirmed mother in history, delivering a healthy baby boy named Gerardo via Caesarean section in May 1939. Her family had rushed her to a doctor in Pisco, convinced the swelling in her belly was a tumor. Instead, X-rays revealed the unimaginable: a pregnancy.
Doctors puzzled over the case for years.
Her parents, poor farmers eking out a living from the harsh soil, shielded her fiercely after that—no more invasive exams, no prying eyes on her or the boy they called their miracle.
Gerardo grew up thinking Lina was his big sister, playing in the dusty streets of Lima where the family eventually settled. He learned the truth at 10, a conversation that must have rewritten his world. Lina married Raul Jurado in the 1970s, and they lived simply; she loved tending a small garden of potatoes and herbs, a nod to her roots. Gerardo, who became a mechanic, passed away in 1979 from bone disease, leaving her to carry on quietly.
Decades later, as Englishwoman Louise Brown claimed IVF fame, Lina’s story lingered like a medical enigma. Now 91, she resides in a modest home in Lima’s outskirts, her life a testament to survival’s strange twists.