An ultra-Orthodox Jewish grandmother has given birth to her 20th child in Jerusalem, but she still has a way to go before she beats the Guinness World Record. The unnamed 42-year-old was rushed to Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem in Jerusalem after going into labour on Wednesday. Nurses were left shocked when the woman revealed she was already a mother to 20 and this was her 19th pregnancy, with a total of 14 years of her life spent expecting and 19 births, including one set of twins. However, she still has to beat the world record of 69 children held by an 18th century Russian peasant woman. Feodor Vassilyev’s wife gave birth to 16 sets of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets.
The Jewish grandmother, speaking to hospital staff, admitted that her eldest children had started families. During the birth, the mother was calm and relaxed, with the labour taking a few hours longer than her previous births. The baby boy was born naturally and without complications. Although Mrs Vassilyeva held the most prolific mother record, according to the Guinness World Record website, it admits that this historic record should be taken with a pinch of salt. It is suspected that the mother-of-69 could have had a genetic predisposition to hyper-ovulate.
