70-year-old Ugandan becomes oldest woman in Africa to give birth

KIGALI, Rwanda

A 70-year-old Ugandan has become the oldest woman in Africa to give birth, with a hospital in the Ugandan capital of Kampala announcing the birth of twins, both of whom are healthy.

Safina Namukwaya gave birth to a boy and a girl on Wednesday with a cesarean delivery after conceiving through In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), the Women's Hospital International and Fertility Centre in Kampala on Facebook.

IVF is an infertility treatment, a condition in which a woman fails to conceive.

Her twins weighed 2 kilograms each when she gave birth at 34 weeks.

“Celebrating our 20th anniversary, we've achieved the extraordinary – delivering twins to Africa's oldest mother aged 70!” the hospital said.

“This story isn’t just about medical success; it’s about the strength and resilience of the human spirit.”

Namukwaya is now the oldest woman in Africa to give birth, according to the hospital.

She told Uganda's private television channel NTV that this was her second delivery in three years, following the birth of a girl in 2020.

Namukwaya, who described the birth as a miracle, recalled difficulties during the pregnancy, including being abandoned by the children’s father, according to the report.

She claimed that men are afraid of fathering twins and that her husband never showed up at the hospital where she was admitted.

Namukwaya reportedly lost her husband in 1992 before entering into another relationship four years later.

She is said to have miscarried during her first marriage.