New World Record? Woman Claims She Gave Birth to 10 Babies, Says Decuplets Were Conceived Naturally

Pretoria: A South African woman has claimed to have set a new world record by giving birth to as many as 10 babies in the same pregnancy. With this, Gosiame Thamara Sithole has allegedly broken the Guinness World Record held by Malian Halima Cissé who gave birth to nine children in Morocco last month. Also Read - Extremely Rare: Woman Gives Birth to 9 Babies

The 37-year-old woman, who is from the province of Gauteng, said she gave birth to decuplets– seven boys and three girls, who were conceived naturally, through C-section at a hospital in Pretoria on June 7. She claimed the decuplets came as a surprise as she was expecting only 8 children. Reports earlier indicated that Sithole was expecting eight babies but two apparently missed the scan because they were tucked inside the wrong tube

Speaking exclusively to the Pretoria News, her husband Teboho Tsotetsi said, “It’s seven boys and three girls. She was seven months and seven days pregnant. I am happy. I am emotional. I can’t talk much. Let’s talk again in the morning please,” Tsotetsi said. The couple already has six-year-old twins.

The pregnancy wasn’t an easy one as she had to deal with a lot of leg pain and heartburn and was also worried if all her babies would survive.

“How would they fit in the womb? Would they survive? What if they came out conjoined at the head, in the stomachs or hands? Like, what would happen? I asked myself all these questions until the doctor assured me that my womb was starting to expand inside. God made a miracle and my children stayed in the womb without any complications,” Gosiame told Pretoria News.

Thankfully, all the ten babies are alive and will be spending the next few months in incubators, before she and her husband can take the infants home.

However, the feat has not yet been confirmed by doctors or the Guinness World Records. If confirmed, Sithole’s 10-babies delivery would make it the first known birth of decuplets.

“Guinness World Records is aware of the news that Gosiame Thamara Sithole has given birth to decuplets, and we send our congratulations and best wishes to the family. At the current time, we are yet to verify this as a record as the wellbeing of both the mother and babies is of top priority. Our records team alongside a specialist consultant are looking into this ” a spokesperson for the records listing told New York Post on Tuesday.