Ugandan woman welcome twins at 70, becomes the oldest woman to give birth in Africa

A 70-year-old Ugandan woman has given birth to twins after becoming pregnant through IVF treatment. 

Safina Namukwaya became the oldest woman to give birth in Africa after she delivered a baby girl and boy on Wednesday afternoon, November 29, the Women’s Hospital International and Fertility Centre in the Ugandan capital of Kampala said. 

Medics at the hospital said the mother and her two babies are doing well after they were delivered via a caesarean. 

‘This story isn’t just about medical success; it’s about the strength and resilience of the human spirit,’ the hospital said.

Ms Namukwaya told the NTV channel that this was her second delivery in three years, after she gave birth to a girl called Sarah in 2020.

The mother said she had suffered some complications and difficulties during her pregnancy, including the father of her children leaving her. 

‘Men don’t like to hear that you are going to have more than one child,’ Ms Namukwaya says. ‘Even after I was admitted, my man never showed up.’ 

Ms Namukwaya said in the past she had suffered miscarriages, lost her husband in the 1990s, and faced stigma within her community for not having any children. 

‘One time, a very young boy heckled at me saying I had been cursed by my mother to die without a child,’ she said.

Ms Namukwaya had revealed after the birth of her first child that she had been judged for not giving birth after 40 years of trying. 

‘Many people judged and abused me for being barren but, I decided to leave everything to the Almighty God who has finally answered my prayers,’ she said shortly after the birth of her first daughter in 2020. 

In 2019, Erramatti Mangayamma, from India, gave birth to twins through IVF at the age of 74, becoming the world’s oldest mother. 

Mangayamma, of Andhra Pradesh state, gave birth to two healthy baby girls with her husband of 57 years, Sitarama Rajarao at her side.