For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts
Oneindia App Download

Tunisian woman due to deliver 12 babies tagged 'a fraud'

By Super Admin
|
Google Oneindia News

London, August 19 (ANI): A Tunisian woman, recently reported to be due to give birth to a record-breaking 12 babies, has gone into hiding after being exposed as a fraud.

The North African teacher, from Gafsa, had claimed that she was expecting six boys and six girls this month after having fertility treatment.

But an investigation by the country's Health Ministry has revealed that the 34-year-old woman, known only as AF, has "psychological problems and is unlikely even to be pregnant".

"Our staff interviewed her at length, but even her pregnancy appears to be in her imagination," the Telegraph quoted a spokesman in Tunis, the capital, as saying.

"She's claiming to be nine months pregnant with six boys and six girls, but there's absolute nothing about her appearance which indicates this.

"The woman has refused point blank to undergo a medical examination. Now we can't even contact her. She's gone into hiding,' the spokesman added.

A doctor at No'man al Adab Hospital, the only one in the town of Gafsa, also said: "It may be that she's trying to make money from television. These kind of people can make thousands from appearing on programmes. Perhaps that's what motivated her."

Medical experts had previously cast a shadow of doubt over the extraordinary feat, saying if the 12 babies, called duodecaplets, were all born alive, they would represent a medical miracle.

Peter Bowen-Simpkins, a fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said: "How could you get 12 babies into the womb at the same time? The womb just doesn't expand that much. She would have to be about seven feet tall." (ANI)

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X