A shocking image has been circulating online showing a pregnant couple, a group of doctors and 10 newborn babies lined up together.
The caption makes an even more unbelievable claim:
“A mother gives birth to 10 babies — but one wasn’t human…”
It sounds like an extraordinary medical story.
But there is a major problem:
🚨 THERE IS NO CREDIBLE EVIDENCE THAT THIS HAPPENED.
The image and caption appear to be part of a viral misinformation story, and the supposed “10 babies” story is connected to an infamous case from South Africa that was investigated and ultimately found to be false.
🍼 THE STORY BEHIND THE VIRAL CLAIM
In June 2021, news outlets reported that a South African woman named Gosiame Thamara Sithole had supposedly given birth to 10 babies, seven boys and three girls.
The story quickly went viral around the world.
If true, it would have been an extraordinary multiple birth.
People began sharing photographs, congratulating the family and discussing whether the babies had broken a world record.
But authorities immediately began looking for evidence.
And that’s when things became very strange.
🏥 HOSPITALS COULDN’T VERIFY THE BIRTH
South African government officials announced that they could not verify the reported birth.
Authorities checked public and private hospitals in Gauteng, but no hospital record confirming the birth of 10 babies could be found. Gouvernement de l’Afrique du Sud
That was a major warning sign.
A birth involving ten babies would normally generate extensive medical documentation because of the enormous medical risks associated with such a pregnancy.
Yet there was no verified hospital record supporting the claim.
🔎 THEN THE INVESTIGATION WENT FURTHER
The Gauteng provincial government later announced that medical examinations found that Sithole had not recently given birth and had not been pregnant in recent times. Anadolu Ajansı
An official inquiry subsequently concluded that the famous “Tembisa 10” story was not true. MyJoyOnline
The story became known as the “Tembisa 10” controversy.
❌ SO WHAT ABOUT THE CLAIM THAT ONE BABY “WASN’T HUMAN”?
There is no credible evidence that one of the supposed babies was an animal, a non-human creature, or anything else bizarre.
That part of the viral caption appears to be clickbait designed to make people curious enough to click “See more.”
The investigation into the original story did not establish that a mother had delivered nine human babies and one non-human baby.
In other words:
There is no verified “one wasn’t human” twist.
📸 AND WHAT ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPH?
The photograph circulating with the claim should not be treated as proof that the woman pictured gave birth to the babies shown.
Viral posts about the 2021 story repeatedly used unrelated photographs to illustrate the claim. Fact-checking at the time documented examples of images of newborns that did not represent the alleged South African decuplets. Lead Stories
So seeing a photograph of a woman, doctors and multiple babies does not establish that all of those people and babies belong to the same real-life event.
🧠 WHY DOES THIS STORY KEEP COMING BACK?
Because it has everything that makes a social-media post go viral:
👶 An unbelievable birth
😱 A shocking mystery
🏥 Doctors and hospitals
🌎 A supposed world record
📸 Emotional photographs
❓ A mysterious “one wasn’t human” twist
👉 And finally: “See more…”
Every time the image is reposted, the wording can become more dramatic.
Eventually, an old debunked story can look like a brand-new event.
👶 CAN A WOMAN REALLY GIVE BIRTH TO 10 BABIES?
Extremely high-order multiple births are extraordinarily rare and carry serious medical risks for both the mother and babies.
Multiple pregnancies can involve premature birth and other complications, which is why they require specialized medical care.
But the fact that something is medically possible doesn’t mean that every viral photograph claiming it happened is authentic.
⚠️ THE BIG LESSON
This story is a perfect example of why we shouldn’t believe a dramatic social-media caption simply because it comes with a photograph.
The original “10 babies” story was investigated in South Africa, and authorities found no medical evidence supporting the claimed birth. Gouvernement de l’Afrique du Sud
And the even more sensational claim that “one wasn’t human” has no verified evidence behind it.
🍼 THE VERDICT
❌ “A mother gave birth to 10 babies and one wasn’t human” — FALSE/UNVERIFIED.
The famous South African “Tembisa 10” story was investigated and ultimately found to be false. The viral images being used today do not prove the story, and there is no credible evidence that one of the alleged babies was non-human.
So before sharing the post…
👀 Look beyond the picture. Check the story.
Because sometimes the most shocking part of a viral post isn’t what happened—
it’s that it never happened at all.
💬 Did you believe this story when you first saw the picture?
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