A 61-year-old Ghanaian woman has finally given birth for the first time after undergoing a successful advanced medical procedure at Mary-Lucy Hospital at Awoshie in Accra.
The development, the fertility hospital says, marks a major milestone in reproductive medicine in Ghana.
Doris Anum-Dorhuso, a Chartered Accountant of 25 years, who has been unable to give birth for the past 22 years of her marriage, underwent a medical procedure known as Stem Cell-Enhanced In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) to get pregnant and give birth.
She had initially been ruled out of any chances of giving birth by different facilities, but through the hospital’s procedure, she was able to give birth on July 2, 2026, four days to her 62nd birthday.
Hospital officials have described it as one of the country’s most significant breakthroughs in assisted reproductive care and a testament to advances in science and fertility medicine.
Stem Cell-Enhanced IVF involves using one’s own cells to rejuvenate the womb.
Ms Anum-Dorhuso and her baby girl, Naa Dromo, were unveiled at a news conference on the hospital’s premises yesterday, a day that also marked her birthday.
Dressed in a white lace outfit with white accessories, and carrying her tender daughter draped in a white shawl, the two surrounded by the confident and elated hospital staff that included the two key medical specialists who saw her through the entire period of the procedure, an elated Ms Anum-Dorhuso urged women struggling to give birth not to give up.
“You shouldn’t sit in your home and weep because you cannot give birth. Look for a good facility to solve your problem for you, and pray while the medical team are doing their part,” she advised.
Ms Anum-Dorhuso said before her husband passed, the couple had visited other facilities where she was told, because of her age, they could not do the IVF for her.
She later got to know about the Mary-Lucy Hospital through a television programme, where she was informed about the Stem Cell-Enhanced IVF.
Ms Anum-Dorhuso said she was initially scared that her womb could be removed, but persevered with prayers, finding courage throughout her pregnancy to even go to work without experiencing any complications.
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Stem Cell-Enhanced IVF
The Director and Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, Dr Davis Kofie Adedze, who was one of the specialists that attended to her, said the woman’s age notwithstanding, he was convinced about the advancement of science that even at 60 years old, then, Ms Anum-Dorhuso could be a miracle case.
As the woman declined suggestions to go for surrogacy or adoption, they later started a full evaluation of her, and soon they realised she had undergone a previous fibroid surgery, which meant her womb had somehow been battered.
Upon further assessment, Dr Adedze said, they realised the fibroids had reoccurred, which gave her a zero chance for someone who was well into her menopause.
The process involved a surgery to remove 26 fibroid nodules from her system, rejuvenating her womb with her own cells, and then strengthening the inner lining of the womb, which had shrunk because of menopause.
Dr Adedze said a full medical evaluation later proved that she could carry a baby, upon which they transferred the embryos into her.
“And God being so wonderful, it picked with the second attempt after the first failed,” he said, adding that Ms Anum-Dorhuso went through the pregnancy without any hospital admission, while she went to work regularly, reported for all hospital checks and went through a successful 37-week pregnancy after which she was delivered of her baby.
A Stem Cell Practitioner and Specialist Obstetrician Gynaecologist, Dr Richard Asamoah, who was part of the medical team, mentioned some of the risks that posed a danger for the procedure for a woman of advanced age, to include high blood pressure, diabetes, metabolic conditions, and kidneys not functioning well.
He added that this was why, before they performed the procedure, they would evaluate the person medically to see if they could do it.
Dr Asamoah said in the case of Ms Anum-Dorhuso, the stem cells solved all the problems for them because they minimised the risk factors that could have arisen.
He disclosed that it was not the first time the hospital was doing stem cells for women of advanced age, adding that they had done it for a number of them, but Ms Anum-Dorhuso was the oldest among them all.
