If you’ve ever read the biblical story of Sarah (yes, Abraham’s wife) giving birth at 90 and thought, “What a bunch of gobbledygook!”—well, think again.
A 76-year-old woman in Tigray, Ethiopia, just shattered all expectations by giving birth to her first child, proving that it’s never too late to start a family.
Embeyte Medhin Hagos, also known as Medhin Barka, welcomed her first child, a son, at a hospital in Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray regional state in Ethiopia, after undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) in India last year
“I did not feel it when I conceived…God’s will happened,” Medhin told Dimtse Woyane News. A relative echoed the amazement, stating, “Nothing is impossible to the Holy Savior.”
While no official medical report has been released, social media sources claim Medhin delivered naturally, without the need of a cesarean section.
Footage from the child’s baptism, which took place 40 days after birth in accordance with Ethiopian Orthodox Church tradition, captured an atmosphere of pure celebration.
Medhin joins a rare but growing list of women defying age-related fertility odds. In 2019, a 73-year-old woman in India gave birth to twins after IVF treatment.
Then, in 2023, a 70-year-old Ugandan woman, Safina Namukwaya, delivered fraternal twins via C-section at a fertility center in Kampala.
At the time, Namukwaya shared that she had longed for children after being mocked by her village for being childless.
“I looked after people’s children and saw them grow up and leave me alone,” she told local news outlets. “I wondered who would take care of me when I grow old.”
Determined to change her fate, she and her partner turned to IVF and soon after, they welcomed a beautiful baby boy and girl.
Typically, women experience menopause between ages 45 and 55, leading to a significant drop in fertility. However, advancements in reproductive medicine have rewritten the rules.
IVF, one of the most groundbreaking techniques, involves retrieving an egg from a woman’s ovaries, fertilizing it with sperm in a laboratory, and implanting the embryo back into the womb.
