South African residents and people all over the world have been gripped by the mystery of whether or not a woman native to the region actually gave birth to 10 children, which would be the world's first "decuplets" being born.

There have been claims that the woman, identified as Gosiame Thamara Sithole who lived in the Tembisa township found near Johannesburg, gave birth to 10 babies on Monday. The news of the incident was reported by the Pretoria News newspaper which was found to have quoted the parents of the children.

World's First Decuplets

The family has not allowed the 10 kids, seven of which were boys and the remaining three girls, to be seen by the public or captured on camera. The newspaper reported that the decuplets were born prematurely.

In a statement, the South African government said that officials were still trying to verify the claims of the family. The mystery of whether or not the historic birth is true has led South African residents to obsess about the news on social media platforms, dubbing it the story of the "Tembisa 10", Independent reported.

It was the children's father, identified as Teboho Tsotetsi, who told the newspaper that his wife had given birth to their 10 kids in a hospital in the capital, Pretoria. The father of the decuplets said that he was surprised along with his wife when the doctors detected eight babies during prenatal scans.

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"It's seven boys and three girls. She was seven months and seven days pregnant. I am happy. I am emotional," said Tsotetsi as quoted by the Pretoria newspaper, the Los Angeles Times reported.

If the claim is true, then the couple, Tsotetsi and Sithole, would be the parents of a dozen children because they already have six-year-old twins. While relatives and neighbors of the two have claimed that the news is true, South Africans are still eagerly waiting for confirmation of what would be a new world record.

Did It Really Happen?

A neighbor of the couple's family in Tembisa, Wilson Machaya, said that for Sithole to receive 10 blessings at one time was a miraculous work by God. They said that since they were neighbors with the parents of the children, they will be assisting and supporting them in any way possible.

But an official inquiry found that Sithole and her husband's claim of having 10 babies earlier this month were not true. Authorities discovered that no hospitals in Gauteng province have recorded decuplets being born, said the provincial government.

Various medical tests also showed that Sithole was not pregnant in recent days and has been placed under the mental health act for observation and will be given appropriate support. The official statement did not provide details on why the 37-year-old fabricated the story.

However, Pretoria New has stood by its reporting, claiming that hospitals and provincial health authorities were trying to cover up medical negligence. The media outlet said that the allegations against Sithole and her family were false, unsubstantiated, and only served to tarnish the good reputation of Steve Biko Academic Hospital and the Gauteng Provincial Government, BBC reported.

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