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A 42-Year-Old Israeli Grandmother Just Gave Birth To Her 20th Child

She's spent 14 years of her life pregnant.
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A 42-year-old Israeli grandmother has given birth to her 20th child and is "very excited" about it.

The ultra-Orthodox grandmother gave birth to a boy on Wednesday, reported The Times Of Israel.

The grandmother, whose identity wasn't revealed, is a resident of the Mea Shearim neighbourhood of Jerusalem, according to a hospital statement in The Times Of Israel. She currently has 19 other children (including one set of twins), and some of her children are grown and married, with children of their own.

The Times Of Israel reported that she has spent approximately 14 years of her life pregnant.

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"She was very excited about every birth, every child ... It also gave me a good feeling. She has sons-and daughters-in-law, and of course she has a lot of help at home," midwife Aliza Altmark of the Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem said in The Times of Israel.

The Times also reported that the mother was calm and relaxed, and that labour only took a few hours (which was "longer than the woman's previous births.")

Israel will have the highest population density in the Western world.Sergio DellaPergola

In May, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported that Israel's population will double over the next 40 years. About 30 per cent of that projected population will be haredi Orthodox Jews, JTA reported.

"Israel's projected future looks a lot like a visit to the Jerusalem central bus station: crowded and very religious," the agency wrote.

"Israel will have the highest population density in the Western world," demographer Sergio DellaPergola said.

The world's "most prolific mother ever" was 18th-century Russian peasant Mrs. Vassilyeva, according to The Guinness World Records website. She gave birth to 69 children total: 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets.

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