Karla Vanessa Perez is Pregnant with Nine Babies. Unreal or Not Real?

A year after giving birth to triplets, Karla Vanessa Perez claims she's pregnant again, and this time, she's expecting nine.

That's nine as in almost all of your fingers, about half of the Dugger family, and one more than the entire clan of Gosselin kids. All nine of them, currently, living inside one woman. Is that even possible? Maybe, but the woman claiming to be the latest mega-multiple mom hasn't convinced everyone.

The Mexican news station Televisa broke the news of the 32-year-old mother's record-breaking multiple pregnancy this week, and Gawker has already stamped her with the tabloid-ready nickname "nonomom."

By the end of day Friday, her Mexican town's local newspaper was challenging Perez's claims. According to a reporter from El Diario de Coahuila who spoke with her mother, Perez is not pregnant, and she never even had triplets. A Telemundo reporter also claims to have evidence that Perez is lying, according to MSNBC.

Video: teacher fired over IVF procedure

In video of a news broadcast, Karla appears remarkably calm considering what lies ahead.

"Doctors tell me there are six girls and three boys," the 32-year-old said. "It's miraculous."

If she is in fact pregnant, science should take more of the credit. Up to 40 percent of in vitro fertilization pregnancies result in multiples. In extreme cases, like 'Octomom' Nadya Suleman, it's a result of multiple embryonic implants, exceeding the suggested limit of two. Suleman had 12 embryos implanted before her doctor had his license revoked.

More on the fate of the doctor who gave Suleman IVF

Televisa claimed that Karla underwent fertility treatments before her pregnancy but didn't provide any more details.

Having multiples comes with serious risks to both mom and children. Carrying so many fetuses at once can cause internal bleeding, high blood pressure and heart problems in women, and put one or more of the babies at risk for birth defects and fatalities.

New research on risk of multiples pregnancies

If Karla isn't pregnant, she's done a good job of faking it. After claiming financial hardship and asking her community for help, the city's mayor, Ernesto Cepeda Valdes, promised to be "like godparents to those babies and give all the support we can."

Just over the border in Houston, an unquestioned mother of mega-multiples is recovering after her emergency delivery. Laura Perkins gave birth at 30 weeks to three boys and three girls ranging in size from 1 pound 10 ounces to 2 pounds 15 ounces. Five of the babies are doing well, though Perkins reports on her blog that one is in more critical state. "One baby is sick, but making progress," reads a blog update on the Perkins' site. "In the NICU, things change hourly so we're constantly getting updates."

Related:
The future for the Gosselin kids
Multiple births on the rise
The art of juggling multiples
Octomom supports family on welfare