Friday December 1, 2023
Safina Namukwaya became pregnant with the twins after an IVF procedure
A 70-year-old Ugandan woman has just had twins after becoming pregnant through IVF treatment, becoming the oldest woman in Africa to give birth, according to the hospital where she had the babies.
The Women's Hospital International and Fertility Centre in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, said Safina Namukwaya delivered a boy and a girl.
"This story isn't just about medical success; it's about the strength and resilience of the human spirit," the hospital said on Facebook, following Ms Namukwaya's successful caesarean delivery on Wednesday.
Ms Namukwaya told privately owned NTV channel that it was her second delivery in three years, after she gave birth to a girl in 2020.
She added that she had experienced multiple difficulties during the pregnancy, including desertion by the children's father.
"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," she said.
Ms 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.
"One time, a very young boy heckled at me saying I had been cursed by my mother to die without a child," she said.