AP woman becomes mother at 74, delivers twins

Having longed for over five decades to become a mother, a 74-year-old woman finally realised her dream by giving birth to twins in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday (September 5).

This, doctors say, could be a new world record. The previous record was said to be held by a 66-year-old Spanish woman in 2006, according to the Guinness World Records. E Mangayamma of Draksharamam in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh delivered twin baby girls through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) in a private hospital in Guntur.

Both the mother and the newborn twins are safe and stable, Gynaecologist Sanakkayala Aruna, under whose care the Caesarean section was performed, said.

Married to E Raja Rao in 1962, Mangayamma remained issueless all these years. When one of their neighbours recently conceived and delivered a baby through artificial insemination at the age of 55 years, hopes sprouted in Mangayamma too and she wanted to try IVF.

She approached Dr Aruna – who previously served as health minister in the Chandrababu Naidu cabinet between 1999 and 2004 – in Guntur in November last year. Mangayamma went through the IVF procedure and conceived in January this year.

Given her age, the woman was kept in the hospital under the constant care of specialist doctors all these months. “She remained healthy as she did not have diabetes or blood pressure. Since she is 74 years old, we had to perform Caesarean section to deliver the babies,” Dr Aruna said.

The happiness of the new parents and their relatives knew no bounds as there were celebrations in the hospital.