Woman, 70, ‘gives birth to twins after IVF treatment’: Ugandan becomes oldest person to give birth in Africa, says hospital

A 70-year-old Ugandan woman has given birth to twins after becoming pregnant through IVF treatment, the hospital where she was treated said.

Safina Namukwaya has become the oldest woman to give birth in Africa after she gave birth to a girl and a boy on Wednesday afternoon, the Women’s Hospital International and Fertility Center in Uganda’s capital Kampala said.

Doctors at the hospital said the mother and her two babies are doing well after being delivered by caesarean section.

“This story is not just about medical success; it is about the strength and resilience of the human spirit,” the hospital said.

Ms Namukwaya told broadcaster NTV that this was her second birth in three years, after giving birth to a girl named Sarah in 2020.

Doctors at hospital said mother and her two babies are doing well after being delivered by caesarean section

The mother said she had some complications and difficulties during her pregnancy, including the father of her children leaving her.

“Men don’t like to hear that you are having more than one child,” says Ms Namukwaya. “Even after I was admitted, my husband never showed up.”

Ms Namukwaya said she had suffered miscarriages in the past, lost her husband in the 1990s and faced stigma within her community for not having children.

“Once a very young boy bothered me and said that I had been cursed by my mother to die without a child,” she said.

Mrs Namukwaya had revealed after the birth of her first child that she was convicted because she failed to give birth after 40 years of trying.

“Many people judged and abused me for being barren, but I decided to leave everything to God Almighty, who finally answered my prayers,” she said shortly after the birth of her first daughter in 2020.

Although Ms Namukway’s case is rare, it is not the first time a woman has given birth at an older age.

In 2019, Erramatti Mangayamma, from India, gave birth to twins via IVF at the age of 74, becoming the world’s oldest mother.

Mangayamma, from the state of Andhra Pradesh, has given birth to two healthy daughters with her 57-year-old husband, Sitarama Rajarao, by her side.

In 2019, Erramatti Mangayamma (pictured with her late husband Sitarama Rajarao), from India, gave birth to twins via IVF at the age of 74, becoming the world’s oldest mother.

Mangayamma, from the state of Andhra Pradesh, has given birth to two healthy girls (pictured) with her 57-year-old husband, Sitarama Rajarao by her side

It is believed that the Ahalya IVF clinic in the city of Guntur paid for most of the procedure as medics knew it would be a historic achievement.

Mangayamma has no other children and went through menopause 30 years ago. But her husband Rajarao died of a heart attack in 2020 at the age of 84.

The previous record holder for the world’s oldest mother was Bousada de Lara, who was 66 years old when she gave birth to twins, Christian and Pau, in December 2006.

De Lara admitted lying about her age to receive fertility treatment at a private clinic in Los Angeles, for which she reportedly paid £30,000.

The babies were born prematurely by caesarean section and each weighed 1.6 kg.

Omkari Panwar, from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, claimed to be the world’s oldest mother when she gave birth to twins in 2008. But her claim that she was 70 could not be proven.

Britain’s oldest mother is Elizabeth Adeney, from Lindgate in Suffolk, who gave birth to a son in May 2009 aged 66.

The NHS normally only offers the procedure to women under the age of 43.

But some private clinics offer IVF to women over that age.

When a woman goes through menopause, she can no longer become pregnant naturally.

But IVF is still possible using eggs frozen earlier in the mother’s life, or eggs from a donor.