A Ugandan woman gains viral attention for welcoming twins at the age of 70.
A Ugandan woman gains viral attention for welcoming twins at the age of 70.
In Kampala, at a fertility centre, a 70-year-old Ugandan woman underwent a caesarean section earlier this month to deliver twins after receiving in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment, as reported by the BBC.
Safina Namukwaya, now one of the oldest women to give birth, welcomed a boy and a girl, describing the event as a “miracle” according to Ugandan media.
The Women’s Hospital International and Fertility Centre (WHI&FC), where Namukwaya gave birth, shared the news on its Facebook page, celebrating the accomplishment: “We’ve achieved the extraordinary – delivering twins to Africa’s oldest mother aged 70!”
Dr. Edward Tamale Sali, a fertility specialist at WHI&FC, explained that the mother utilized a donor egg and her partner’s sperm for the IVF procedure.
Although the premature babies were born at 31 weeks and initially placed in incubators, Dr. Sali assures that they are currently “stable.” The hospital congratulated Namukwaya, emphasizing that it goes beyond a “medical success” and speaks to the strength and resilience of the human spirit.
In 2019, a 73-year-old Indian woman made headlines for giving birth to twins through IVF treatment. Fast forward to the present, and Safina Namukwaya, a 70-year-old Ugandan woman, shared her own remarkable story of delivering twins after undergoing IVF treatment.
Namukwaya revealed to Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper that her pregnancy had been challenging, especially as her partner abandoned her upon learning about the impending arrival of twins. Expressing her disappointment, she commented, “Men don’t like to be told that you are carrying more than one child. Ever since I was admitted here, my man has never showed up.”
These twins mark Namukwaya’s second delivery in three years, as she gave birth to a baby girl in 2020. Motivated by societal expectations and the desire to have children, she explained, “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.”
