Fact Check: South African woman's story of giving birth to 10 babies at once is fake

An official investigation has revealed that a South African woman's claim that she gave birth to 10 babies earlier this month was false.

She has been admitted to a psychiatric facility and is under monitoring for fabricating the claim. 

Gosiame Thamara Sithole, 37, of Gauteng province near Johannesburg, had made headlines throughout the world for claims of breaking the world record for giving birth to 10 babies. 

No hospitals in the Gauteng province have a record of decuplets being born, the provincial government said, BBC reported.

Medical testing revealed that Sithole was not even pregnant recently, according to the official investigation.

She is being held for observation under the Mental Health Act.

The official investigation did not reveal the reasons for the fabrication of the narrative.

Independent Online (IOL) first reported the world record claim on June 8, after which it was picked up by a number of media outlets throughout the world. 

The Tsotetsi family issued a public statement which said the family has concluded that there are no decuplets born between Tebogo Tsotetsi and Gosiame Sithole.

According to the provincial government, the state attorney has been asked to initiate legal action against the news outlet that published the article.

(This article has been updated to add the family statement and government investigation on the claim by the South African woman.)