Lina Medina gave birth at just five years old – and she reportedly 'got no help during the ordeal.

To this day, no one knows who the father of the baby is and it's believed she might not know herself, as she "couldn't give precise responses". The tragic story shocked the world in 1939 when it first came to light.

Lina was a Peruvian girl who lived in a remote Andes village. Concerns were raised about her welfare when her stomach started to enlarge – with her bewildered parents fearing she had an abdominal tumour, reports the Daily Star.

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Her father carried her to a hospital, where it was discovered she was seven months pregnant. She gave birth to a healthy son via Caesarean section weeks later on May 14, 1939.

Medics discovered that Lina had a rare condition called precocious puberty. This means she was showing signs of puberty from an early age, with her mum reportedly saying she was having periods by the time she was three.

Lina developed adult sexual organs as a toddler – before she was raped. Her father Tilburelo was arrested on suspicion of incest – but he was later released.

After the birth, Lina and her family lived out their lives in private rather than sharing their story publicly. The boy lived until the age of 40 but passed away from bone disease in 1979.

It's understood that he wasn’t told Lina was his mum until he was ten, having previously believed she was his sister. After her distressing childhood, Lina went on to marry and have another child, 34 years later.

Raul later told the press: “She got no help that I know about. She thinks governments never deliver."

He spoke 20 years ago when Lina was 68 – and according to Telegraph India, she was living in a “cramped house in a poor, crime-ridden district” in Peru.

A book called Mother Aged 5 was also penned by obstetrician, Jose Sandoval who wrote: “The government condemned them to live in poverty. In any other country, they would be the objects of special care. We still have time to repair the damage to her. That’s my fundamental objective.”

In 2002, she refused an interview with Reuters, just as she had turned away many reporters in years past.