"It's God's gift," said 74-year-old Erramatti Mangamma, after delivering twins via caesarean in Guntur town of Andhra Pradesh. Mangamma blazed a trail last year when, at her age, she decided to conceive through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), defying stigma and society's jeers. It all paid off.
On Thursday, as she became possibly the oldest woman in the country to have attained motherhood, staff at the Guntur clinic where she underwent a c-section hailed her as a "miracle mother".
The "miracle" took a team of specialists comprising four gynaecologists, two paediatricians, two anaesthesiologists, a general physician and a cardiologist to carry out a 30-minute procedure at the end of which Mangamma had delivered two baby girls.
Mangamma married Erramatti Raja Rao in 1962 in Nelapartipadu village in Andhra Pradesh' East Godavari district. The couple longed to have kids but the fate of becoming parents eluded them for the longest time. They consulted many doctors and visited many hospitals to realise their wish of having a child, but all in vain.
Then, as the decades progressed, medical science advanced and, in November last year, turned things around for them. They happened to consult Dr Shanakkayala Umashankar at Ahalya nursing home who was willing to take up the challenge.
"Only after putting her through a thorough examination by cardiologists, pulmonologists and other specialists did we decide to go ahead with the IVF," said Dr Umashankar to Zee Media. "She had attained menopause a long while back but through in-vitro, we got her periods back in just a month."
That Mangamma is a fit woman helped. "This lady has no history of ailments like blood pressure or sugar. The genetic line is very good," Dr Umashankar said.
The couple is aware that it is unusual to have kids at their age. But for them, it is a natural outcome of years of wait and endurance. "We faced lot of social stigma in our village for not having a child. Ever since our marriage, we have heard countless taunts. So we did what we could, and now we hope that God will bless us," said Raja Rao.
"The babies and the mother are in good health," said Dr Umashankar.
For the twins' father, happiness knew no bounds. "Today we are the happiest couple alive. Now I can go to my village with my head held high. We will take very good care of our girls,"' said Raja Rao.
The babies will be kept under observation at the neonatal intensive care unit of the facility for the next couple of days.
