A 70-year-old Ugandan woman has welcomed twins after a successful IVF treatment to become among the oldest women to give birth in Africa.
This is according to the hospital -Women's Hospital International and Fertility Centre Uganda- where the lady received her treatment.
Safina Namukwaya delivered a baby girl and a baby boy via a caesarean.
"This story isn't just about medical success; it's about the strength and resilience of the human spirit," the hospital said.
In her interview with a Ugandan media outlet, Namukwaya revealed that this was her second delivery in three years after she gave birth to a baby girl named Sarah in 2020.
The mother said she had suffered some complications and difficulties during her pregnancy, including the father of her children leaving her.
"Men don't like to hear that you are going to have more than one child," Namukwaya said. "Even after I was admitted, my man never showed up."
Further, the 70-year-old revealed she had suffered miscarriages in the past noting she lost her husband in the 1990s.
Since then, she has faced stigma within her community for not having any children.
"Many people judged and abused me for being barren but, I decided to leave everything to the Almighty God who has finally answered my prayers," she said shortly after the birth of her first daughter in 2020.
At 70 years, Safina Namukwaya delivers twins today:@WHIFCug Sets African Record! Celebrating our 20th anniversary, we've achieved the extraordinary – delivering twins to Africa's oldest mother aged 70! This a historic event#Uganda #pregnancy #ivf #fertility pic.twitter.com/gY8K9M91cS— Women's Hospital Int (@WHIFCug) November 29, 2023
Namukwaya joins the growing list of women giving birth at a more advanced age.
In 2019, Erramatti Mangayamma, from India, gave birth to twins through IVF at the age of 74 - becoming the world's oldest mother.
Mangayamma, of Andhra Pradesh state, gave birth to two healthy baby girls with her husband of 57 years, Sitarama Rajarao at her side.
The previous record holder for the world's oldest mother was Bousada de Lara, who was 66 years old when she gave birth to twin baby boys, Christian and Pau, in December 2006.
De Lara admitted lying about her age in order to receive fertility treatment at a private clinic in Los Angeles.
The babies were delivered prematurely by caesarean section.
While women going through menopause are no longer able to get pregnant naturally, IVF is still possible through the use of eggs frozen earlier in the mother's life, or eggs from a donor.
