63-year-old woman gives birth in Ekiti through IVF

A 63-year-old woman, Mrs Temitope Ogundipe, has been delivered of a baby boy through In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) at Olives Specialist Hospital, Ado-Ekiti.

Ogundipe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Ado-Ekiti that she was full of joy because of the baby.

She said that faith in God and support from her husband kept her going after many years of childlessness.

According to her, she had tried to have a child for many years and had gone to many hospitals for solution to her childlessness, but all proved abortive.

“I have tried this IVF before now and it failed. It was a friend who introduced this particular hospital to me.

“I had to come all the way from Oyo State to Ekiti for the IVF,” she said.

She appreciated the Medical Director of Olives Specialist Hospital, Dr Adebayo Adeniyi, for his words of encouragement, calmness and support throughout the process of the IVF.

Ogundipe called on women looking for “this kind of precious gift” not to lose hope and said “if God can do it for me at the age of 63 years, He can also do it for them.”

She advised young women with problems of childlessness to seek help from specialists as early as possible.

Meanwhile, the medical director of the hospital has expressed happiness over the delivery of the baby, and ascribed the success to the Almighty God and the entire dedicated medical team.

“The hospital has recorded significant successes in IVF treatment within a short time,” Adeniyi said.

He appealed to the government to subsidise IVF treatment and said infertility should be seen as a disease that deserved adequate attention like other chronic diseases through the National Health Insurance Scheme, (NHIS) coverage.

“This will go a long way in assisting couples who are unable to access IVF because of the high cost,’’ he added.