After 12 years of hard work, a woman in Ethiopia’s Harari region finally gave birth to rare quintuplets.
Bedriya Adem said she and her husband were “extremely happy” to have “five children at the same time.”
The 35-year-old pregnant woman delivered four boys and a girl at the Fana Specialist Hospital in Sievert, all of whom were in “good health,” the hospital said.
“I have no words to express my happiness,” she told the BBC, recalling how she was “filled with depression and pain” until her prayers were answered.
Dr. Mohamed Noor Abdullahi, the hospital’s medical director, said the mother and baby were still receiving treatment at the hospital. Infants weigh between 1.3 and 1.4 kg (3 lbs).
He told the BBC that newborns weighing more than one kilogram had a high chance of surviving and growing up healthy.
Doctors told the BBC that Bedria was conceived naturally, without the help of in vitro fertilization (IVF) technology, which is not provided by the hospital.
IVF can increase the chance of multiple births if multiple embryos can be transferred.
The chance of conceiving quintuplets naturally is about one in 55 million.
Bedelia is “ecstatic” about her five children, who she calls a “blessing” [Hiwot Fana Specialised Hospital]
Doctors said the baby was born via caesarean section on Tuesday night.
Describing her “excitement,” Mohammed said: “She received regular medical care during her pregnancy and was informed that she was carrying more than one child. She received full and appropriate medical assistance throughout the process.”
Bedria said she was initially told she was pregnant with four children, but when she gave birth, one more was added.
“I only prayed for one child and God gave me five,” she said of her feelings during the “long wait.”
The first-time mother said her husband already had a child from another marriage who lived with them.
“He once told me, [the other child] It was enough and I shouldn’t have worried, but deep down I was suffering mentally and emotionally because the whole village was questioning my inability to have children,” she said.
“Everything I’ve experienced in the past feels like a distant dream that I don’t even want to recall,” she added.
“I spent 12 years in pain, hiding myself and praying for my children – and finally Allah heard me.”
She said she was a subsistence farmer unsure of how to support her newly expanded family. “But I believe Allah will provide through the support of my community and government.”
Their “Five Blessings” were named Nayef, Ammar, Monzil, Nazira and Ansar.
More BBC coverage of Ethiopia
[Getty Images/BBC]
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