Motherhood is the dream of every woman. Sometimes it is not fulfilled because of various underlying conditions. However, it has become possible due to advancements in the medical sector. Recently, in Uganda, Safina Namukya, a 70-year-old woman, gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, via cesarean section and became Africa's oldest mother.

Safina delivered the twins at a hospital in the capital, Kampala. The hospital congratulated her and said, "It is more than medical success; it's about the strength and resilience of the human spirit.”

Previously, Safina had given birth to a girl in 2020. She said she wanted to have children because she was mocked for being childless and was called a cursed woman before she gave birth to a baby girl.

Safina was determined to go through IVF (in vitro fertilization). In IVF, an egg is taken from a woman's ovaries and fertilized with sperm in a laboratory. The fertilized egg is called an ‘embryo’, which is placed in a woman's uterus for growth and development. Safina underwent the IVF process at Women's Hospital International and Fertility Centre (WHI&FC), Kampala. Talking to the BBC, Dr. Edward Tamale Sali said Safina used the donor egg and her partner's sperm for an IVF procedure. The babies were born prematurely at 31 weeks and were placed in incubators. The babies' condition is stable right now.  The WHI&FC posted on it's Facebook handle and stated, “We've achieved extraordinary - delivering twins to Africa's oldest mother aged 70!”.

The mother of the twins told local media sources, “It was a miracle.” She also talked about her pregnancy and said her partner left her when he found out that she was having twins. Men don't like to be told about bearing more than one child. Ever since she was admitted there, her man has never shown up, she added.

She explained that she was worried about her future and who would take care of her in old age, which was the prime reason for having children.

(Input from various media sources)

(Rehash/Lavanya Beeraboina)