Nadya Suleman: The current Guinness World Record holder is American Nadya Suleman, who in 2009 gave birth to eight preterm but otherwise healthy children. The previous record of seven was held by Dafna Gencer from Israel. Suleman had five girls and three boys. The ages of the children at the time of their death were 2 months, 1 week, 4 days, 5 hours, 42 minutes. She later gave birth to a ninth child who also died shortly after birth. The deaths of all nine children left Suleman with the world's most premature infant mortality rate. She said that she suffered from depression after the deaths and attempted suicide by eating some of her infected organs. However, she was saved by friends who took her to a hospital where she was treated for peritonitis, an infection of the lining of the stomach or intestines. She has since moved out of her home in California and started a new life in Hawaii, where she has four more children with another man. She has stated that she does not plan to have any more children. Helen Hamilton Thomas: Helen Hamilton Thomas was a British woman who in 1869-70 had eight children with her husband John Henry Thomas while they were both students at Cambridge University.