Mariam Nabatanzi from Kabimbiri village in Uganda is said to be the most fertile woman. The 40-year-old known as Nalongo Muzaala Bana (the twin mother that produces quadruplets) is a mother to 44 children! In the past 18 years, she has given birth to six sets of twins, four sets of triplets, three sets of quadruplets, as well as a few single births. Her oldest child is 23 years old. Out of the 44 children, she lost six of them while 38 are still alive and she lives with all her kids in the same house.

Mariam was married off at the age of 12 to a man 28 years older to her. As a child, she suffered at the hands of her stepmother and even survived death. Today, she is a single mother and somehow manages to feed all her children. Uganda's Daily Monitor newspaper quoted Mariam as saying, "My husband was polygamous with many children from his past relationships who I had to take care of because their mothers were scattered all over. He was also violent and would beat me at any opportunity he got even when I suggested an idea that he didn't like.  Are Women More Attracted to Masculine Men During Their Fertile Period? Here's the Truth

Nabatanzi gave birth to her first children at the young age of 13 in 1994. For her, it wasn't strange, infact quite a normal thing. Her father had 45 children with several women including twins, quadruplets and quintuplets. Dr Charles Kiggundu, a gynaecologist at Mulago Hospital, in Kampala, Uganda, told the Daily Monitor that the cause of Mariam’s extreme fertility is most likely genetic. He was quoted as saying, "Her case is the genetic predisposition to hyper-ovulate (releasing multiple eggs in one cycle), which significantly increases the chance of having multiples; it is always genetic."

Watch her interview here:

"Having these unfertilized eggs accumulate poses not only a threat to destroy the reproductive system but can also make the woman lose their lives,” Dr Ahmed Kikomeko from Kawempe General Hospital said.

The report quoted Mariam as saying, "I was advised to keep producing since putting this on hold would mean death. I tried using the Inter Uterine Device (IUD) but I got sick and vomited a lot, to the point of near death. I went into a coma for a month." Her fertility problems came to an end in December 2016 after the birth of her last child. She claims that the doctor told her that he had "cut my uterus from inside". Mariam's father hardly homes home, some of the younger kids have not seen him at all. Mycoplasma Genitalium Can Make Women Infertile! Know How it is Spreads & Symptoms of this Rare STI that Could soon Become a Superbug

In order to take care of such a huge family, she does odd jobs. She primarily gives local herbs for different illness to people. Other than which she does hair braiding and plating and decorations for weddings.

Talking about the difficulty in taking care of the family, she said, "Everything is solely from my pocket; I buy 10kg of maize flour a day, four kilograms of sugar a day and three bars of soap. I need to have Shs100, 000 at the least on a daily basis to have the family catered for. God has been good to me for they have never gone a day without a meal."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 17, 2018 05:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).