12-baby pregnancy exposed as fraud

But that was a true case. Two days back, when a Tunisian woman claimed to be on a verge of having a world-record breaking 12 babies, she must have had the same outcome in her mind.

The 34-year-old Arabic teacher, only known as AF, hit the headlines for creating history; for being pregnant with 12 babies. But now she finds herself in hiding, after being exposed as a fraud/farce.

To read about the Tunisia woman's story, click here

The woman had told the doctors in her home town of Gafsa that she was due to give birth to duodecaplets later this month.

All the hard work goes down the drain for AF
An investigative probe into the matter by the country's health ministry has revealed that she has “psychological problems and is unlikely even to be pregnant”.

A government spokesman in Tunis, the capital, added: "Our staff interviewed her at length, but even her pregnancy appears to be in her imagination. 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.”

Doctors at No'man al Adab Hospital, Gafsa, confirmed that the woman had never been in their care, and had “undoubtedly” cooked up the whole story.

The spokesperson continued, saying, “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.”

Marvan, the woman's husband in his 40s, had even hired a lawyer to deal with the media inquiries. When inquired, the lawyer said that even he doubted the woman's claim when she refused to show him an ultrasound that confirmed the pregnancy.

“Even he's gone missing now,” informed the doctor at the hospital. “There's something very suspicious going on, and we wouldn't be surprised if this matter ended up with the police.”

Such pregnancy not possible: Doctors
Experts had cast their doubts earlier this week on the woman's claim to be pregnant with 12 babies.

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”.

Health experts say that such a thing is next to impossible. They believe she could be experiencing a "phantom pregnancy". It is a rare condition where a woman lives in a belief that she is pregnant and can actually develop such symptoms consistent with pregnancy, for example: a swelling abdomen, missing a period or feeling the baby is moving inside her.