Kampala: Modern mothers who have one or two children do not have enough time to take care of them. Mariam, a young woman who has 44 children, is a miracle for today’s young generation, who consider two children too much. They have become a wonder not only for the young generation but for all the people of the world. Mariam Nabatanzi is a 41-year-old Ugandan.
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Maryam Nabatanzi became a mother for the first time at the age of 13. There were 3 babies in the first delivery. Then there was continuous labor. She became a mother 15 times in 36 years. Five of them gave birth to four babies each and in the same number of times three babies each. Had four sets of twins. Only one baby was born in the last delivery. Now aged 41. In the meantime, grandchildren were born through older children. The world today calls this Ugandan woman ‘Mama Uganda’.
She is known as one of the most fertile women in the world. Normally only one egg is released during a woman’s ovulation. But for Mariam, they are two, three and four. In an interview with Al Jazeera, she says that one attempt at birth control landed her in the hospital for six months and she never recovered.
Although giving birth and raising so many babies is full of hardships, they consider all of them as God’s gift. Six of the 44 children died early. Two babies died while in the care of his half-sister. Mariam Nabatanzi and her children live in a village 50 kilometers from Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Having been abandoned by her husband, she tries every job she can to support the family. Maryam is looking for work as a seamstress and hairstylist.
When Maryam was only a few months old, her mother left her. Then he had to suffer cruel tortures from his stepmother. When my father was away, he mixed the bottle with his food and gave it to him. Married at the age of 12. It cannot be called marriage, father was selling himself in the marriage market. Maryam is his fifth wife. The first delivery at the age of 13 gave birth to three babies. Then successive births. The three eldest are 25 years old. The youngest child is five years old. Grandchildren were also born through the elder children. The father of all 44 children is Mariam’s first husband. It is said that he used to leave her and the children in between.
She had to suffer various kinds of harassment from her husband. When he can’t bear it, he goes to his father for help. However, at the time of marriage, his father used to send back the amount he had received as mahr on his behalf saying that he was not ready to return it.
At the age of 18, when I had 18 children, I considered stopping childbirth. However, Maryam said in an interview to a vlogger that if she did not give birth, the doctors sent her back, saying that if she did not give birth, she would have a tumor.
The wish is to give the best education to all the children. Often there is no money for educational needs but they try their best. One of the older girls studied to become a nurse. But instead of being a supporter, he got married and went to Russia. One son is a mechanical engineer. The older children below are also studying in universities.