16 wives, 86 kids - a Vietnamese record
October 07, 2002

A RETIRED bricklayer in Vietnam, has set an unofficial national record by siring 86 children from 16 "wives".

Tran Viet Chu, a 75-year-old from the central province of Quang Tri, who spent 60 years travelling the country while working in the building trade, married at 17 but his first wife died 10 years later.

Chu soon tied the knot again but nevertheless brought another 14 "wives" into his household over the next half-century.

Chu, who currently lives with his second wife and 10 girlfriends, admits that his behaviour has been far from exemplary but says he has never been able to control his emotional and sexual desires.

"Poor me, every time I see a voluptuously shaped woman I cannot control my lust. I seem to have been born with this flirtatious tendency," he told the Cong An Nhan Dan (People's Police) newspaper last week.

"A million times I tried to give up my habits, but a million times I failed."

As for the total number of women he has had sex with, Chu said there were too many to count.

"I cannot remember how many women I slept with because over the past 60 years during my time as a builder I travelled to many villages and there would always be at least one woman who fell under my spell."

Agence France-Presse

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