But did any of these men really reach that maximum humanly possible? Turns out, the records on Ismail only spanned 32 years of his life. By one calculation, he really could have had hundreds more. If you compare that to men in more modern times, the most "prolific" fathers today have up to about 200 children.
According to research, a woman can have somewhere around 15 to 30 babies in her lifetime.
In 1997, the McCaughey septuplets, born in Des Moines, Iowa, became the first septuplets known to survive infancy. Multiple births of as many as eight babies have been born alive, the first surviving set on record goes to the Suleman octuplets, born in 2009 in Bellflower, California.
The most fertile woman in history is alleged to be an 18th-century Russian peasant called Valentina Vassilyev. Between 1725 and 1765, she is recorded as giving birth to a total of 69 children – 67 of whom survived infancy. This included 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets.
Genghis Khan is known as one of the greatest warriors in the history of the world, but that is not the only thing he is known for. He is also known for being the man who had the most kids in the world.
If the 12 – called duodecaplets – are all born alive they would represent a medical miracle and break the record of American mother Nadya Suleman, who recently gave birth to the world's longest-surviving octuplets.
Women can reproduce for about half of their lifetime and can only give birth about once every year or so. So it makes sense that women can only have a fraction as many children as men. One study estimated a woman can have around 15 pregnancies in a lifetime.
According to a local monastery's report to the government in Moscow, between 1725 and 1765 Mrs Vassilyev popped out 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets, over 27 separate labours. The grand total: 69 children.
The longest recorded human pregnancy was 375 days, or just over 12 and a half months, according to Guinness World Records. During this pregnancy, a woman named Beulah Hunter gave birth to a healthy baby girl in 1945.
A near-universal one-child limit was imposed in 1980 and written into the country's constitution in 1982. Numerous exceptions were established over time, and by 1984, only about 35.4% of the population was subject to the original restriction of the policy.
1.5 Sextuplets (6) 1.6 Septuplets (7) 1.7 Octuplets (8) 1.8 Nonuplets (9)
In 2020, a 62-year-old woman from Illinois became pregnant through in-vitro by using her daughter's eggs, after previously giving birth to a son at 60, while a 73-year-old woman from southern India gave birth to twin girls, possibly becoming the oldest woman ever to give birth, in 2019.
Two children. Research suggests that having two children is still most people's idea of the 'ideal' family size. Having said that, according to the Office for National Statistics, one-child families have been on the increase over the last two decades.
Mia Farrow is mom to 14 children. She has four biological kids—twins Matthew and Sascha and son Fletcher with ex-husband André Previn, plus Ronan with ex Woody Allen—as well as those she has adopted: Lark, Summer and Soon-Yi Previn, along with Moses, Dylan, Tam, Thaddeus, Quincy, Frankie-Minh, and Isaiah Farrow.
Valentina Vassilyeva and her husband Feodor Vassilyev are alleged to hold the record for the most children a couple has produced. She gave birth to a total of 69 children – sixteen pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets – between 1725 and 1765, a total of 27 births.
James Elgin Gill was born in Ottawa, Ontario, on May 20, 1987, around 128 days early or 21 weeks gestation. He set a record when he was born for the world's most premature baby.
The shortest known gestation is that of the Virginian opossum, about 12 days, and the longest that of the Indian elephant, about 22 months.
While a 92-year-old woman delivering a 60-year-old baby may sound like a bizarre plot twist from the movie “Benjamin Button,” it's true. Huang Yijun, 92, of southern China, recently delivered a child which she'd been carrying for well over half a century. The baby wasn't alive, however.
The heaviest birth weight for surviving twins on record goes to Mrs. J.P. Haskin of Arkansas, on February 20 1924, whose twins weighed in at an eye-watering 14lbs & 13lbs 12oz, totalling 27lb 12oz. The Uk's heaviest set appear to have been the Warren's born on December 6th 1884 totalling 25lbs 8ozs.
There's no scientific limit, but the largest reported number of fetuses in one womb was 15.
There's no maximum age that stops a man from being able to have a baby. You can become a father long into your older years, but there are risks.
The study also found that two girls were more well behaved, got along better and were more likely to help around the house. However, doubling the number of girls does not make for a happier home. Researchers found that a family of four girls was the worst combination of children.
Grow your family to at least four children! According to a study out of Australia's Edith Cowan University, parents with the most life satisfaction (which means those who are the happiest) are those that have four or more children.