Kampala, Uganda | NOW THEN DIGITAL — In Uganda, Safina Namukwaya has made headlines as “Africa’s oldest mother” after welcoming twins at the age of 70. The historic birth occurred on November 29, following in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment at the Women’s Hospital International and Fertility Centre in Kampala.
The centre celebrated the remarkable achievement on Facebook, stating, “We’ve achieved the extraordinary – delivering twins to Africa’s oldest mother aged 70!” Both Ms. Namukwaya and her newborns are reported to be in good health.
Speaking to local media outlet NTV Uganda, Namukwaya shared that the pregnancy was challenging, describing it as “not a cup of tea” and revealing that she had depleted nearly all her savings due to health issues.
This marks her second experience with IVF, having given birth to a baby girl through the same method in 2020. The IVF process involves extracting an egg from the woman’s ovaries, fertilising it with sperm in a laboratory, and then returning the fertilised embryo to the woman’s womb for development.
While Namukwaya’s achievement is noteworthy, she is not the oldest person to give birth. In 2019, a 74-year-old woman in India, Erramatti Mangayamma, delivered twin girls through IVF, demonstrating that age is not a barrier to the possibilities of modern fertility treatments.
