The most babies born to one mother belongs to a woman from Russia during the 18th century. During her life she gave birth to what can be best described as a nerve wracking 69 babies, and nearly all of them survived.
Today families usually restrict the number of children to between two or three on average. The associated costs of raising children accompanied with career prospects of parents usually delay the beginning of a family and its size. But in times not so long ago large families were the norm. Effective use of contraceptives were not yet in mass production, and religious customs dictated that families should procreate. It was common place for couples to have up to ten or more children. But this record holder pushed the limits of sanity.
Unfortunately the name of the woman has been lost to time. Considering the magnificence of her efforts, one would think that her name would have been recorded for all time, but it wasn’t. She is simply referred to as the wife of Feodor Vassilyev (b. 1707–c.1782), a peasant from Shuya, Russia. It was reported by the Monastery of Nikolsk that his wife had given birth to 69 babies during their time together. Now that seems outrageously exagerated, until it’s broken down and appears more likely.
Breaking down the most babies born to one mother
In her lifetime Feodor Vassilyev wife had 27 pregnancies. Of those she had 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets. Of all of those births, only didn’t didn’t survive until adulthood.
But the story doesn’t end there. Feodor Vassilyev went onto have another marriage, and even more children. Talk about a glutton for punishment. His second wife gave birth to 18 babies throughout eight pregnancies. Her babies were six twins and two sets of triplets. If only Mr Vassilyev had a television he could have avoided the record for most babies born to one mother.
