Ajisafe Olayiwola
After years of barrenness, a 70-year-old Ugandan woman, Safina Namukwaya, has delivered a set of twins.
The woman was pregnant for the first time following an in vitro fertilisation, BBC reports Thursday.
Namukwaya was delivered of the babies – a boy and a girl through a successful caesarean delivery on Wednesday at the Women’s Hospital International and Fertility Centre in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.
The hospital shared the news of the delivery via its Facebook page on Wednesday, stating, “70-year-old, Safina Namukwaya, speaking just before the delivery of her beautiful babies. Yes, she delivered twins, a boy and a girl. A historic achievement indeed.
“As we honour this courageous mother and anticipate the healthy growth of her twins, we invite you to celebrate with us. This story isn’t just about medical success; it’s about the strength and resilience of the human spirit.”
PUNCH Online reports that IVF is a technique used to assist people with fertility issues in having babies
During IVF, an egg is removed from the woman’s ovaries and fertilised with sperm under controlled laboratory conditions.
Thereafter, the fertilised egg, referred to as an embryo, is then returned to the woman’s womb to grow and develop.
Namukwaya told a privately owned NTV channel that it was her second delivery in three years after she gave birth to a girl in 2020.
The 70-year-old shared that she had experienced multiple difficulties during the pregnancy, including desertion by the children’s father.
She lamented, “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 shown up.”
Namukwaya said she did not know how she would manage to raise the children, but was happy to have them after years of enduring stigma and ridicule for being childless, the report stated.
“One time, a very young boy heckled me saying I had been cursed by my mother to die without a child,” she recalled.
According to the hospital where she had the babies. Namukwaya becomes the oldest woman in Africa to give birth.
Copyright PUNCH
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: [email protected]
