First daughter after fathering 14 sons

Press, 23 March 1985, Page 6

First daughter after fathering 14 sons

PA Dunedin Toi Tamakehu, of Mosgiel, shows off his first daughter after fathering 14 sons. On the right is the mother of the child, Eva Ruru. “When the nurse told me, the tears were coming down,” Mr Tamakehu said on Thursday, as he beamed with pride. “I wanted a daughter, and I didn’t think I’d get one . . .” The daughter was born early on Tuesday morning. Mr Tamakehu waited outside the delivery room “because I already know how it works”.

Friends from Murray Street were calling at the home of his de facto wife, Mrs Eva Ruru, and sharing the good news and a beer. Mr Tamakehu’s eldest son

is now aged 32, and his “dozen or two grandchildren” a mixture of boys and girls. The couple have two sons. Mr Tamakehu had the other 12 sons by his first wife. Mr Tamakehu said he may have missed out on enough sons for a rugby team but had “struck the jackpot.” He married and had his first child at 18. He had joined the Army, and was on leave when the son was born. The birth was at Jerusalem, on the Wanganui River. Mr Tamakehu and an “old fella” delivered the baby in the absence of doctors and nurses. In all, Mr Tamakehu has delivered seven babies, including one other of his own children. Mr Tamakehu had his

fiftieth birthday last Sunday i and he thinks that with his « daughter, perhaps he has enough children. " “He’s at peace now,” Mrs | Ruru said, as she held their I daughter. 5 The daughter is so beauti- j fui, Mr Tamakehu jokes, | that she should be called s Elizabeth Taylor Tamakehu. j Mrs Ruru is not so sure I about the Taylor name, but $ at this stage likes Elizabeth. | The baby, whose birth weight was 3720 g (Blb 3oz) A and mother, arc at Mosgiel ■-* Hospital. They were trans- ‘•S ferred from Queen Mary 8 Maternity Hospital in ** Dunedin after a trouble-free birth. Mr Tamakehu is from 'a Wanganui. Mrs Ruru is *.< from Wairoa, in Northern Hawkes Bay. J . Jit J