The South African woman who recently made headlines after claiming to have given birth to ten children faked the entire thing.
37-year-old Gosiame Sithole received worldwide attention after speaking out earlier this month and claiming she had given birth to ten babies.
After the alleged mom-of-ten became a global sensation, however, her fabricated story started falling apart.
Eyebrows were raised early on after the babies’ alleged father, Teboho Tsotetsi, spoke to the media and accused the woman of fabricating the pregnancy to receive donations. He also claimed he hadn’t met the babies she claimed to have given birth to.
Following an investigation, Sithole was taken to a psychiatric hospital where “various medical tests were conducted on her to determine her state of health,” the Gauteng Provincial Government confirmed.
“Initially, she was meant to be kept at the hospital for 72 hours, which lapsed on Tuesday,” the official statement by the local government added.
“Upon completing their preliminary examination, her doctors recommended that she be kept at the hospital for a further seven days for further observation, in accordance with the Mental Healthcare Act.”
According to the officials, it has since been confirmed that the woman didn’t give birth to ten babies as she claimed and that she wasn’t even pregnant in recent times.
“It has now been established by medical practitioners that Miss Sithole did not give birth to any babies in recent times. It has also been established that she was not pregnant in recent times,” the statement added.
Following the revelation, the editor of the publication that originally reported the story apologized for not investigating Sithole’s claims before reporting the alleged world record.
“I used no investigative tool or checklist. They had no reason to lie to me about the pregnancy. For me, it was a story of celebration,” the editor, Piet Rampedi, said.
“Hence, I never demanded documentary proof of the pregnancy, such as scanners and clinic cards, for instance, as I would normally do with an investigative story.
“However, judging by the sudden turn of events and the reaction from the government and our detractors, I was wrong.”
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