Indonesian police say they are looking into a bizarre claim made by a young widow in Cianjur, West Java, who has become the subject of widespread ridicule for saying she miraculously became pregnant without sexual intercourse.
The woman, 25-year-old Siti Zainah from the Cidaun district, said that she gave birth to a baby girl after a one-hour gestation period on Wednesday afternoon. Siti told local media outlets that she was lazing around in her living room when what was supposedly the conception process occurred.
“After the afternoon prayer, I was lying face down [on the floor], then suddenly I felt wind enter [my body] through my vagina,” Siti told reporters on Friday.
After around 15 minutes, Siti said she felt pain in her stomach before it grew bigger, as if she was really pregnant. Siti then gave birth at a nearby community clinic (Puskesmas) shortly after.
Prior to giving birth, Siti said there were no irregularities with her period.
As the news spread nationally over the weekend, authorities went to Siti’s house to check in on the mother and child. These included Sumardi, who heads the Cidaun sub-precinct and Eman Sulaeman, the head of Cidaun’s community clinic.
According to Eman, what Siti had experienced was most likely a cryptic pregnancy, a condition where the mother isn’t aware of her pregnancy until she goes into labor.
“After I checked at the location together with the sub-precinct chief and district head, the mother and baby are in a healthy condition and the birth process was normal. The baby’s gender is female and weighs 2.9 kilograms,” Eman said.
Police, who are investigating the case, said that Siti had separated from her husband around four months ago. Officially, and excluding the newborn, they have one child together.
“The point is that we want to straighten out the confusing news about the pregnant woman who has given birth, [the occurrence of which] was perceived to be unnatural. We don’t want this matter to foster wild rumors among the public,” Sumardi said.
Is the child a miracle baby or was this all a convenient story Siti fabricated to protect herself from the harsh stigma of having a child out of wedlock? After all, she was not the only woman to claim instant pregnancy in Indonesia in the past couple of years. For example, in July of last year, a Tasikmalaya woman gave birth to a baby boy after a supposed one-hour gestation period, while a self-confessed virgin said she gave birth to her “magical baby” after a 3-hour pregnancy in 2017. In the latter’s case, the woman and her family refused inspections from authorities.
