# Most Children Born to One Woman? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 23, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342 "2011-09-23T16:02:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/1 "2011-09-23T16:02:48Z")
I found [this old thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=340037), in which people mention the ever-popular Russian couple with 69 kids. This couple is mentioned everywhere on the internet, but unaware of any real documentation for this. I’d thought I would give this topic a second try. What is the most children born to one woman with supporting documentation. I assume this means that it will have to be a more recent example. Well, do the Duggars have it? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/2 "2011-09-23T16:04:45Z")
The most obvious example is the guy in the midwest who’s to what, 17 kids now? There’s such a concept as “too much of a good thing”. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/3 "2011-09-23T16:31:40Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > The most obvious example is the guy in the midwest who’s to what, 17 kids now? There’s such a concept as “too much of a good thing”. That would be the Duggars, with 19 now. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/4 "2011-09-23T16:47:36Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > That would be the Duggars, with 19 now. Pfff, _my great grandmother_ had 22 children. Anyway, fathers don’t count in this survey do they? Presumably they can pop sperm till the cows come home. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/5 "2011-09-23T17:40:02Z")
:steps in: My Grandma had 14. First 7 in a row died of tuberculosis, as did her first husband. And she lost a lung to it. And had kids that had it, but survived. Not really useful for your question, but I thought I’d share. :steps out: ---
**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:** [September 23, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/6 "2011-09-23T17:52:54Z")
From earlier this year: [Ukrainian woman gives birth to 20th child](http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-22/mad-mad-world/29462815_1_ukrainian-woman-20th-child-family) So, there’s a benchmark. > [@SanVito](#): > > . . .Anyway, fathers don’t count in this survey do they? From a cursory glance, the wording in the OP tends to make me think they would be disqualified. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/7 "2011-09-23T18:04:00Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > From earlier this year: > [Ukrainian woman gives birth to 20th child](http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-22/mad-mad-world/29462815_1_ukrainian-woman-20th-child-family) I don’t mean to offend anyone, because I am truly ignorant about the Indian press, but is Times of India a reputable publication? That article mentions Leontina Albina as the most prolilfic, but cites for it seem dodgy and another news story mentions she was a fraud. It seems hard to find real evidence for these things. ---
**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:** [September 23, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/8 "2011-09-23T18:07:55Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > I don’t mean to offend anyone. . . Not me–and I have not idea about “Times of India” and their accuracy. That story was carried by a number of publications in Google News Archives.[This purports to show a photo of the whole family](http://kuweight64.blogspot.com/2011/05/ukranian-woman-gives-birth-to-20th.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/9 "2011-09-23T18:27:22Z")
Given the Duggars’ 19 children, twenty is certainly possible. (On the other hand, Feodor Vassilyev’s supposed 69 children seems really implausible.) ---
**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:** [September 23, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/10 "2011-09-23T18:43:22Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > (On the other hand, Feodor Vassilyev’s supposed 69 children seems really implausible.) Not just the number, but27 confinements and not one singleton as noted earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/11 "2011-09-23T18:51:39Z")
You know who else counted children… Seriously though, during WWII, the Germans gave out the “Mother’s Cross” for women with kids. I _think_ the highest cross was for women with over 10 kids. My guess would be that there would be some detailed records with regard to this. ---
**Author:** ![AndyLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@AndyLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyLee)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/12 "2011-09-23T19:02:19Z")
How fast in theory can a women get pregnant after she gives birth? I assume it takes a few days after giving birth to get reorganzied down there and get ready for the next one. But I think they call them Dutch twins or Irish twins, or something like that. Two babies born in the same year but not twins. Like one is born in January 2010 and the other kid is born in October, Novemeber or December of 2010. So they both have the same birth year. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/13 "2011-09-23T20:04:50Z")
> [@Meatros](#): > > Seriously though, during WWII, the Germans gave out the “Mother’s Cross” for women with kids. I _think_ the highest cross was for women with over 10 kids. My guess would be that there would be some detailed records with regard to this. Eight. [Here is the wiki on the medal.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_of_Honor_of_the_German_Mother#Classes_of_the_Order) ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/14 "2011-09-23T22:29:41Z")
Nothing to contribute, other than to say my first response to the thread title was “yes, it’s pretty rare for a child to be born to two women.” ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/15 "2011-09-23T23:17:32Z")
Usually takes at least six weeks for post-birth bleeding (called lochia) to stop, and a couple of weeks after to start ovulating. If the woman breastfeeds it can delay ovulation significantly, up to two years. I usually start about nine months after a birth. So, for most people there has to be at least a six-eight week wait before ovulation and possible pregnancy, probably more like two and a half months. So kids can be born, what, every twelve months or so? And if you start at, say, sixteen… Aagh. I need to go lie down. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/16 "2011-09-24T06:24:01Z")
My brother was born in August of one year, and I was born in July of the next. And I was two weeks early, so that leaves just a few weeks between birth and next pregnancy, I believe. And my brother was born breach, so ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/17 "2011-09-24T09:14:38Z")
> [@Lissla\_Lissar](#): > > Usually takes at least six weeks for post-birth bleeding (called lochia) to stop, and a couple of weeks after to start ovulating. If the woman breastfeeds it can delay ovulation significantly, up to two years. I usually start about nine months after a birth. > > So, for most people there has to be at least a six-eight week wait before ovulation and possible pregnancy, probably more like two and a half months. So kids can be born, what, every twelve months or so? And if you start at, say, sixteen… > > Aagh. I need to go lie down. [ul] [li]and there’s twins and triplets (especially common when a woman is older and on fertility treatment)[/li][li]and there’s starting before sixteen… (the youngest mother in the world was 8 :eek:but she stopped at 3)[/li][/ul] I reckon it’ll be at least in the low twenties. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/18 "2011-09-24T15:46:35Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > [ul] > [li]and there’s twins and triplets (especially common when a woman is older and on fertility treatment)[/li][li]and there’s starting before sixteen… (the youngest mother in the world was 8 :eek:but she stopped at 3)[/li][/ul] > I reckon it’ll be at least in the low twenties. I suspect that the number of women who have had 18-20 kids (so as to even be in the running here) who go on to later seek fertility treatments when they begin to have trouble conceiving is vanishingly small. In fact, I suspect it’s non-existent. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/19 "2011-09-24T15:59:54Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Not just the number, but27 confinements and not one singleton as noted earlier. A friend of mine comes from a family of twelve, and only one was a singleton. The others are all twins or triplets. All without fertility treatments. So there may be a tendency in some women/couples that make multiple births non-independent events. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342/20 "2011-09-24T16:28:02Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > A friend of mine comes from a family of twelve, and only one was a singleton. If my public school education hasn’t failed me, that’s a maximum of six births. One out of six is pretty extraordinary. Zero out of 27 is. . . moreso. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-children-born-to-one-woman/597342.md?page=2)