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Ugandan Woman, 70, Gives Birth to ‘Miracle’ Twins, Becomes Oldest Mother in Africa

Safina Namukwaya delivered a girl and a boy via IVF. She also gave birth to a girl in 2020.

A woman from Uganda has given birth to twins at 70 years old with the help of IVF treatment, the BBC reports.

In the capital city of Kampala, Safina Namukwaya delivered a girl and a boy via cesarean at a fertility center becoming the oldest mother in the continent of Africa. Namukwaya has described the birth as a “miracle” and the hospital where the birth took place said it was an amazing  "medical success; it's about the strength and resilience of the human spirit.”

Dr. Edward Tamale Sali, a fertility specialist at the Women's Hospital International and Fertility Centre (WHI&FC), said that Namukwaya used a donor egg along with a partner's sperm to complete the IVF procedure.

Currently, the babies are stable after being placed in incubators after their premature birth at 31 weeks.

Before giving birth, Namukwaya said that she experienced several complications while pregnant and that she is no longer with the father of her children

“Men don't like to hear that you are going to have more than one child. Even after I was admitted, my man never showed up," Namukwaya said.

Amazingly, this is the second delivery by Namukwaya in three years after giving birth to a baby girl in 2020. Initially, she said that she desired to have children after she was mocked for not being able to conceive.

"I looked after people's children and saw them grow up and leave me alone,” she said. " I wondered who would take care of me when I grow old.”

According to the World Health Organization, women go through menopause between the ages of 45 and 55. During this stage, they experience “the loss of ovarian follicular function and a decline in circulating blood estrogen levels.”Because of IVF treatment, numerous women have been giving birth as they advance in age.

While Namukwaya’s birth story is remarkable, she is not the oldest woman to give birth in the world. 

In India, Yerramatti Mangayamma gave birth to twin girls at 73 in 2019, according to the British tabloid, the .

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