Ugandan woman births twins at age 70

A 70-year-old woman, identified as Safina Namukwaya, has given birth to twins in Uganda.

BBC reports that Namukwaya delivered a boy and a girl via caesarean section at a fertility clinic in Kampala.

The 70-year-old reportedly underwent an in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment for conception.

IVF is a procedure that involves combining egg and sperm outside the body and implanting the resulting embryo into the uterus to achieve pregnancy.

Edward Tamale Sali, the doctor who supervised her pregnancy and delivery, said both the mother and babies are in good health and remain under observation at the clinic.

Expressing her joy, Namukwaya described her twin’s birth as a “miracle” at a time when she was considered too weak to bear a child.

This is not Namukwaya’s first experience with late-in-life childbirth.

She told a privately owned TV channel that she gave birth to a baby girl, also through IVF treatment in 2020.

While menopause typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, advancements in medical technology have made it possible for women to conceive and give birth even after menopause.

In 2022, Abayomi Ajayi, a fertility consultant, explained that pregnancy during menopause can be achieved by utilising a donor egg from a younger woman, which is then implanted into the menopausal woman’s uterus.

“After menopause, a woman no longer produces eggs and thus cannot become pregnant naturally. But although eggs succumb to this biological clock, pregnancy is still possible using a donor egg,” he said.

“Therefore, if a woman obtains an egg from a younger woman transferred into her uterus, pregnancy can be achieved, all things being equal.”