Safina Namukwaya, a 70-year-old woman in Uganda, has given birth to twins via in-vitro fertilization (IVF). She gave birth to a boy and a girl through cesarean section at a fertility center in Kampala.
Ms. Namukwaya, who is one of the oldest women to give birth, called it a “miracle.” The hospital also congratulated her, stating that it is more than just a medical success.
Dr. Edward Tamale Sali, a fertility specialist, shared that Ms. Namukwaya used a donor egg and her partner’s sperm for the IVF procedure. The twins were born prematurely at 31 weeks and are currently in stable condition in incubators.
This is Ms. Namukwaya’s second delivery in three years. She previously gave birth to a baby girl in 2020. She shared that her desire to have children came from being mocked for being childless.
Ms. Namukwaya’s pregnancy was not easy. Her partner left her when he learned she was carrying twins. Typically, women experience menopause between 45 and 55 years old, with fertility declining around this time. However, advancements in medicine have allowed for women to continue childbirth beyond this period.
IVF is one of several techniques used to achieve this. During the process, an egg is removed from a woman’s ovaries, fertilized with sperm in a lab, and then implanted in the woman’s womb to grow and develop.