Indian woman, 74, gives birth to twins after IVF treatment
A 74-year-old Indian woman has given birth to twin girls.
Doctors delivered the twins, who were born following IVF treatment, on Thursday.
The woman, the latest case of an elderly Indian woman giving birth, lives in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
"The mother and the babies are doing well," Dr Uma Sankar, the woman's doctor, told the BBC.
The woman was named as Mangayamma Yaramati.
It is thought she is the oldest woman to have given birth.
She said she and her husband Sitarama Rajarao, 82, had always wanted children but had been unable to conceive until now.
"We are incredibly happy," her husband said, just hours after the babies were born.
"Nothing is in our hands. Whatever should happen will happen. It is all in the hands of God," Mr Rajarao had said when asked who would care for the children in case anything were to happen to the couple.
However, a day later, Mr Rajarao suffered a sudden stroke and is currently being treated in hospital.
The couple said they were stigmatised in their village for not having children.
They were married in 1962 but couldn't conceive despite pursuing all options to have a child -- from visiting temples to making rounds of doctors.
"They would call me a childless lady," Ms Yaramati said. "We tried many times and saw numerous doctors," she added, "so this is the happiest time of my life."
The twin girls were delivered by Caesarean section, which is the usual method in such rare cases.
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Dr Sanakkayala Umashankar, who headed the team of doctors, called it a "miracle".
He claimed that Mangayamma has become the oldest woman in the world to give birth.
"It is another world record. Mangayamma and her husband are also happy."
However, there were critics of the decision to allow such an old couple to have IVF.
Some claim the couple were allowed to have the treatment for free in order to set a new record.
The average cost of IVF in India is between the equivalent of £1,130 to £1,415. The clinic where they were treated though waived the fees.
In 2016, another Indian woman in her 70s, Daljinder Kaur, gave birth to a boy.
