70-year-old woman gives birth to twins in Uganda thanks to IVF
A 70-year-old woman in Uganda gave birth to twins after undergoing fertility treatment, becoming one of the world’s oldest mothers.
Safina Namukwaya gave birth to a boy and girl on Nov. 29. 2023 Namukwaya delivered the babies by cesarean section at the Women’s Hospital International and Fertility Center in the capital city Kampala, the center said in a statement.
“She’s healthy. She’s talking. She’s walking around if they tell her to walk around the hospital,” Arthur Matsiko, a spokesman for the fertility center, told The Associated Press.
Namukway became pregnant through in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment at the center. Because of her age, donor eggs and her partner’s sperm were used for the procedure, the BBC reported.
Her fertility specialist, Dr. Edward Tamale Sali, told TODAY/com the babies were born at 31 weeks, and each weighed more than 3 pounds.
“I feel great,” Namukwaya told TODAY/com through an interpreter. “Some might argue that 70 years is old, but God decided that I get to have twins at 70. There is no one that can put a limit on God’s authority and power.”
The BBC, citing local interviews, reported that Namukwaya said her pregnancy was difficult because her partner abandoned her when he realized she was having twins.
Namukwaya said she wanted to have children because she had been “mocked” for being childless.
“I looked after people’s children and saw them grow up and leave me alone. I wondered who would take care of me when I grow old,” Namukwaya said, according to the BBC.
The mother told TODAY/com that she has a strong support system in her rural village to help her take care of her kids.
