- A 70-year-old woman gave birth to twins in Uganda using IVF.
- The woman’s babies are healthy and doing fine, her doctors say.
- Many doctors say IVF treatments are recommended only for women in their mid-50s or younger.
A 70-year-old Ugandan woman says she is feeling great after giving birth to twins using IVF.
Safina Namukwaya gave birth to a boy and a girl through cesarean section at Women’s Hospital International and Fertility Center in Uganda on November 29, according to TODAY.
“I feel great,” Namukwaya told the outlet through an interpreter. “Some might argue that 70 years is old, but God decided that I get to have twins at 70. There is no one that can put a limit on God’s authority and power.”
The hospital described the event as “historic” in a Facebook post, adding that Namukwaya was in an “upbeat mood” before the operation.
The American Society of Reproductive Medicine says that IVF treatment should be “generally discouraged” for women over 55 because of “concerns related to the high-risk nature of pregnancy.”
Brian Levine, practice director at New York City’s CCRM fertility clinic, told TODAY that he thinks the decision to treat Nawakuma was “incredibly irresponsible.”
Edward Tamale Sali, Namukwaya’s fertility doctor, however, told TODAY he didn’t hesitate to treat her.
“It’s her human right. It’s her body,” he told TODAY. “She’s physically fit.”
Namukwaya’s babies were born prematurely at 31 weeks gestation, her doctor told the outlet. Sali said the twins were moved to the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit due to their premature birth but are doing “just fine.”
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