Pakistani Man Begets 35 Children, Seeks to Father 65 More

A polygamist Pakistani man who claims to have fathered 35 children is now searching for a fourth wife on Facebook to help him achieve his goal of begetting 100 children.

Sardar Jan Mohammad Khilji, 46, has three wives, who he says support his “religious duty” to have as many children as possible. Under Islam, Pakistani men are allowed to have up to four wives simultaneously, but they must get permission from their first wife and from an arbitration council.

Khiji maintains that it is “very rare” that he mixes up the names of his nearly three-dozen children, and that he juggles the large family by alternating who he attends events with. Studies have shown that children and wives in polygamous relationships often battle depression from fighting for the father’s attention. The Koran states that a man should only have multiple wives when he can do “perfect justice” for all of them.

"Well, perfect justice is impossible, and for this reason polygamy is never a good situation," Rafia Zakaria, a women's rights activist who campaigns against the practice, told AFP.

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"Someone always suffers and almost always it is the women and children," she added.

The 39-person family lives together in a five-bedroom mud hut without tap water or a toilet. His wives have not been permitted to speak to the press.

The man’s current marriages were arranged by his parents, but he is hopeful that his next wife could be located with the assistance of social media, now that his story is getting attention. He claims to have already received offers.