# 64-year old great-great-grandmother? That can't be right. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 18, 2005, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810 "2005-04-18T00:24:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/1 "2005-04-18T00:24:43Z")
From this [news story](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=673598) over the weekend. Unless I’m doing my math wrong, that’s about four straight generations of having kids at around age 15. Not that it isn’t possible, it’s just… wow. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/2 "2005-04-18T01:20:21Z")
Great-Great-Gramma Grammer! Wasn’t she in Schoolhouse Rock? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/3 "2005-04-18T01:22:20Z")
I suppose it only requires childbirth at age 16 in each generation. If so, she’d be: - a mother at 16, - a grandmother at 32, - a great-grandmother at 48; and - a great-great-grandmother at 64. Certainly not impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/4 "2005-04-18T02:05:03Z")
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/5 "2005-04-18T02:23:25Z")
I recall a news story a few years ago about a family in which six generations were living. This was because a 90-year-old woman had become a great-great-great-grandmother. Each generation averaged 18 years. The news story pointed out that it’s possible for seven generations to all be living, although there were no known cases. If each generation was 18 years, the great-great-great-great-grandmother would be 108. If each generation was 16 years, the great-great-great-great-grandmother would be 96 years old. It’s even theoretically possible for eight generations to be all be living. If each generation was 16 years, the great-great-great-great-great-grandmother would be 112. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/6 "2005-04-18T02:30:05Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > I recall a news story a few years ago about a family in which six generations were living. My great-grandmother became a great-great-great-grandmother (six generations) in the mid-1960s in Salisbury, NC. She would have been about 95 at the time. She became a great-grandmother at age 60. She was born in 1870, and my oldest first cousin was born in 1930. It’s possible there was an earlier great-grand in her lineage, but I only know my grandmother’s (her oldest daughter) line. BTW, my grandmother was not a part of the six generations I mentioned, but her oldest (but younger than she) sister. (But I know that wasn’t the story you saw.) ---
**Author:** ![Stillwell\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Stillwell\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stillwell_Angel)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/7 "2005-04-18T02:45:33Z")
My best friend is my age (36) She has a **four year old grandson**. :eek: \*Her \*grandmother is 68. So she became a great great granny at 64. Yep, it’s possible. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/8 "2005-04-18T12:21:42Z")
I personally know a woman who became a grandmother at \*\*29 \*\*when her 14 year old daughter had a baby boy. So it’s conceivable. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/9 "2005-04-18T12:32:15Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I personally know a woman who became a grandmother at \*\*29 \*\*when her 14 year old daughter had a baby boy. So it’s **conceivable**. Hehe - conceivable - good one! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/10 "2005-04-18T13:00:16Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. There may be more truth to that than you thought. [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi\_qa3998/is\_200104/ai\_n8943690](http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3998/is_200104/ai_n8943690) > [@](#): > > Several studies in developed and developing countries, including Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Belgium, and the United States, report a positive association among age at menarche, age at first marriage, and age at first birth…Strong social pressures for a short interval between menarche and marriage, motivated by the desire to limit opportunities for premarital sex among women, may explain the association in some cultures… Early menarche has been seen in girls from 7 to 13. At the extreme low end, allowing 1 year for gestation, then birth at 8, that could make a great-great-granny possible at 32. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/11 "2005-04-18T16:46:33Z")
I read the mouse-over thinking, “It can happen! There was a girl at my high school whose great-grandmother was 60!” Then I read the article, and it IS her grandmother!! For the record, she had a daughter at 14 (yes, fourteen) who had a daughter at 14, who had my friend at 16. When we were in high school, her great grandmother was two years _younger_ than my stepdad. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/12 "2005-04-18T17:11:45Z")
I once saw a six-generation photo, the g-g-grandmother was 103, and the youngest female was 10 months. It was a direct line of female descent, from mother, to daughter, grand daughter, and so on. Those generations weren’t even particularly short, a little over 20 years on the average. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/13 "2005-04-18T17:15:42Z")
Eh, a woman I went to school with has a 2-year-old grandchild. We’re 29, so she became a grandma at 27. She got pregnant at 13 and apparently never figured out what causes that, because she’s got five or six kids she’s raising, gave one up for adoption, had a miscarriage, and has had at least two abortions. And she let her then 13 yo daughter’s 20yo boyfriend stay over at their house, in her daughter’s room with the door closed, because “what are they going to do with me right in the next room?” Uh, same thing you were doing with your much-older boyfriend in rooms with the door shut when you were that age? Of course, since this woman has never learned to use the stuff herself, her daughter had certainly not been indoctrinated in the gospel of birth control. If there’s not a great-grandbaby in the picture by the time we’re 45, I’ll eat my hat. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/14 "2005-04-18T17:20:47Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I once saw a six-generation photo, the g-g-grandmother was 103, and the youngest female was 10 months. Wouldn’t that be **five** generations, not six?[ol][_]youngest, 10 months[_]mother[_]grandmother[_]great grandmother[\*]great great grandmother, 103 years[/ol] ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/15 "2005-04-18T21:02:11Z")
At the opposite end of the scale you have my family. My 81-year-old dad’s grandfather was a Civil War vet. He died a few years after my father was born. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/16 "2005-04-18T21:38:42Z")
A girl in one of my classes is pregnant at age 14. Her mother gave birth to her when she was 12. In a couple of months there will be a 26 year old grandmother in my town. :eek: indeed. I think I’ll send a donation to Plannned Parenthood. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/17 "2005-04-18T22:13:01Z")
Here is the obituary of a lady I knew growing up. She just died a couple of months ago: "The celebration of the life of Mrs. Barbara E. Liles Galloway was held Friday, February 25, 2005 at 2:00 p.m. at Rose Neath Chapel in Logansport. She was 100. She is survived by 30 grandchildren, 72 great grandchildren, 54 great great grandchildren and 20 great great-great grandchildren. " 176 grandkids is pretty impressive IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/18 "2005-04-18T22:49:03Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > 176 grandkids is pretty impressive IMHO. " . . . But do they ever write?" ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/19 "2005-04-19T03:04:50Z")
My great-grandmother was 54 when I was born, but that story is still extra scary. I’m happy to be 28 and still baby-free, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810/20 "2005-04-19T05:45:09Z")
You think 13 is bad? There’s one record of a _five year old_ having a child. :eek: Snopes has a page on it, which I won’t link to because it features a nude photo of the patient (taken for the sake of medical science). Just search for “‘Five year old’ Pregnant” in Google, and you’ll find it. So, theoretically, it could be possible to be a great-great-grandmother at the age of 25. Words fail me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/64-year-old-great-great-grandmother-that-cant-be-right/299810.md?page=2)