Maria do Carmo Santana was born as Maria Pedro do Canto, in Bom Jardim, Pernambuco, Brazil, on 30 October 1905 (claimed 1 November). She had a twin sister, Maria Anunciada, who died in 2014 at the age of 108, making them the claimants for the world’s oldest twins ever, a claim that was never verified by the Guinness World Records. Both sisters got married at the age of 20, on the same day.

In 2010, when the sisters were 105 years old, their families tried to apply their record to the Guinness World Records. With help from Maria do Carmo’s granddaughter, Zelia de Santana, the journalist who made their 105th birthday report managed to find the baptismal record in the Santana Parish’s church of Bom Jardim. He found the baptismal record of the two sisters, stating: “On November 3, 1905, in this matrix, I solemnly baptized Maria, four days old…”, while just below is the record for her twin sister with the same name. She was also known as “Dona Carmem”.

Her twin sister, Maria Anunciada, passed away on 17 June 2014, at the age of 108.

Maria do Carmo Santana passed away in her own home in Bom Jardim, Pernambuco, Brazil, at around 5 PM of 13 February 2016, at the age of 110. She was buried the next day in the Bom Jardim cemetery. At the time of her death, 6 of her children were alive (including Pedro Camara, who was 91-years-old at the time), and she had 40 grandchildren and 50 great-grandchildren.