Mother and babies are doing well. Photo / Supplied
Mother and babies are doing well. Photo / Supplied
A 73-year-old woman from India has given birth to twins in a “medical miracle” that may see the elderly mum take the title of the oldest mother in the world.
Erramatti Mangayamma from Andhra Pradesh gave birth to two healthy baby girls by caesarean section, supported by her husband of57 years, Raja Rao.
While her age has not yet been verified, if she is as old as she claims she will be eight years older the previous record holder, Maria del Carmen Bousada de Lara, who gave birth to twins in 2006 at the age of 66.
Mangayamma told the Times of India that the birth lifted a heavy burden.
"People looked at me with accusing eyes as if I had committed a sin," she said.
"Neighbours would call me 'godralu' (a curse-word for a childless woman). However, my husband stood by me like a rock."
73-year-old Erramatti Mangayama has given birth to twins. Photo / Supplied
The couple had given up on the decades-long dream of becoming parents before consulting IVF expert Dr Sanakkayala Umasankar in Guntur about a year ago.
She conceived on her first round of IVF and was closely monitored through her pregnancy.
After the birth, Dr Umasankar said: "Both the mother and babies are doing fine. Ten doctors worked for nine months to keep a close watch on her health. This is a medical miracle."
The proud father Raja Rao said: "It's due to the grace of God and doctors that I have now become the proud father of two baby girls."
The twins were delivered by caesarean and are healthy. Photo / Supplied
The Sun reported that Dr Umasankar was not worried about the new mum’s recovery.
"I don't think she will have any major health issues in the post-delivery period," he said.
"However, she cannot breast-feed the babies. But no worries.
"We can feed the babies with milk obtained from the milk bank."
Records from Statistics NZ show that there were over 200 births to Kiwi women over 45 years of age in 2018.
