Humans are one of the most populous living things on the planet so it comes as no small surprise that there is much diversity seen between us. Still, some things most people think are fixed really aren’t. This can be particularly apparent when it comes to biology and the family. For instance how many children can a couple conceive in one lifetime? How big was the largest infant ever born? How many children have been born in a multiple birth? How many children did the most prolific father in history have? The answer may surprise you!

 With the recent birth of a viable set of octuplets in the US, there is much talk about the largest families on record and what is actually biologically possible. You may be surprised to learn that this set of octuplets (and the set preceding it by another woman) are not the larges multiple births on record, nor are they the largest family or most fertile parents!

·          Most Multiples Born at once: The record for the multiples born at once first goes to the Broderick family of Australia who welcomed five boys and four girls into their family on June 13 1971. Sadly two of the boys were still born and the baby to live the longest only lasted six days.

The second set of nunuplets were born in Malaysia to Mat Saad on March 26, 1999. All these babies were born alive but none lasted more than six hours after birth.

·          Most Natural Children Born to One Woman: One of the most stunning records in history can go to one very fertile Russian woman who gave natural birth to sixty nine children without the use of fertility aids! The children were all born between 1725-1765. In twenty-seven pregnancies Mrs. Vassilet gave birth to sixteen sets of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets. Only two of these children died in infancy, a staggering statistic by itself considering the day and age!

·          Most Children Sired by One Father: Of course sixty-nine children by one mother is absolutely astonishing but what kind of family could a man have with no less than five hundred wives? Historians think Mulai Ismail sired somewhere around eight hundred children sometime in his life between 1646-1727 where he ruled as the last Sharifian Emperor of Morocco. Now that's a tiring thought!

These newborns are sure to turn some head all on their own, without having half a dozen siblings lying aside them...

·              World's "Oldest Baby" - The world's "oldest baby" was born to twenty-five year old Beulah Hunter, who gave birth to a daughter at a staggering 375 days after conception. Normal gestation in human only last 280 days. Proof of this amazing gestation goes back to the original pregnancy test done in March 1944 and her last menstruation on February 10, 1944. The baby was a very normal six pounds and fifteen ounces. According to her prenatal doctors the baby had grown exceptionally slowly but was otherwise normal upon it's birth in 1945. 

·              Worlds Heaviest Newborn: The world's heaviest newborn was a massive twenty-two pounds and eight ounces upon his birth in Italy, 1955. His mother Signora Carmelina Fedele was a woman of average size, as was his father.

·              World's Tiniest Surviving Premature Baby: Amillia Sonja Taylor, was born October 24, 2004 after a terribly impatient twenty-two weeks in the womb. She was just 9 and a half inches long and weighed less than ten ounces. She lived at the hospital for four months before growing big enough to take her first trip home.

If you ask a random person on the street what they believe the reproductive age of a woman is they will likely say that a girl can get pregnant in her teens and have her last baby in middle age... but what about the anomalies? These individuals can prove to be controversial or even disturbing to some... so what is the human reproductive age taking into consideration the youngest and oldest parents? You might be surprised...

· Youngest Father on Record: The world's youngest father was a British boy by the name of Sean Stewart who was only twelve years old when his baby was born back in January 20, 1998. He was only 11 years and one month old when he got his then fifteen year old girlfriend pregnant.

· Youngest Mother on Record: The world's youngest mother is one of the most disturbing records you will come across because the title for this goes to a Peruvian girl who gave birth when she was only five years old. Little Lina Medina gave birth by cesarean in 1939, the only way she could have physically survived with such tiny hips. She had been brought to the hospital from a tiny Andean village because she was believed to have been suffering a massive abdominal tumor. Some investigation revealed that Lina had started menstruating when she was only three years old and she even had fully developed breasts despite her very young age and typical size. The medical field today believes she probably had a pituitary problem which made her reproductive hormones spring into action far before they should have. As to who the father was? No one ever figured this one out. The baby boy was brought home and raised as her brother and only had one sibling, a brother born thirty three whole years later.

· Oldest Father on Record: The oldest father is impressive for a lot of reasons. He was an Australian minor who entered into fatherhood for the last time when he was an amazing ninety three years old! Les Colley died a few years later at age 100.

· Oldest Mother on Record: The oldest mother on record goes to sixty-seven year old Maria del Carmen Bousada de Lara who was blessed with twins on December 29, 2006, in Spain. Not surprisingly this wasn't a totally natural conception. This sparked worldwide controversy.