53-year-old becomes mother through IVF

A 53-year-old woman has become the oldest female in the country to successfully give birth through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).

Mrs Vivian Tanson was delivered of a set of twins, both females, through caesarian section last Monday by a medical team led by Dr Gordon Attoh, a fertility specialist at the All Faith Medical Centre, a fertility facility at New Aplaku in Accra.

Before her, the oldest woman to have gone through a successful IVF at the medical centre was 49 years.

Doctors and nurses jubilated when the delivery, which took about 40 minutes to complete, was successfully carried through.

The authorities of the centre said the babies weighed 1.9kg and 1.6kg at birth and they and their mother were in healthy condition.

Mrs Tanson and her husband had been battling childlessness since their marriage 15 years ago.

Many going for IVF

Speaking to the Daily Graphic after the operation, a clinical embryologist with the All Faith Medical Centre, Mr Isaac Kofi Adu, said the centre had undertaken over 100 successful IVFs since its establishment in January 2018.

According to him, many more women were going through the process at the centre to enable them to have their own children.

He observed that many women who had challenges in conceiving resorted to all forms of medications, most of which were unprescribed, in a bid to improve their situation.

“This practice is very dangerous and I entreat women with difficulty in conceiving to use the scientifically proven IVF, which is safe for both the mother and the baby,” he advised.

Infertility, he pointed out was not a spiritual problem.

Mr Adu advised members of the public to desist from self-medication and not give in to superstitious beliefs and rather seek medical attention when they faced fertility issues and other health challenges.

"IVF is effective for all women, especially those who are not more than 60 years, and so I recommend it to every couple in search of a child," he said.

The clinical embryologist explained that women who went through IVF were taken through tests and counselling to adequately prepare them for the service.

He said the cost of the service had been made affordable to enable couples to take advantage to have their own children.

Stigma

For her part, Mrs Tanson told journalists that she had been subjected to ridicule and stigmatisation by some people for her inability to conceive.

She expressed gratitude to God and the doctors and other medical staff at the centre for taking her through the process successfully.