After 12 long years of trying to conceive, a woman finally gave birth — to quintuplets. The quintuplets were born in the city of Harar in eastern Ethiopia.
Bedriya Adem and her husband are “overjoyed” to be “blessed with five children at once.” The 35-year-old woman delivered four boys and a girl, all of whom are in “full health”, at the Hiwot Fana Specialised Hospital. “I cannot express my happiness in words,” she said, adding that she had been wracked “with depression and pain” due to her childless state.
Doctor Mohammed Nur Abdulahi says the babies all weigh between 2.8 and 3 pounds. Newborns who weigh more than 2.2 pounds have a good chance of surviving and not suffering long-term disabilities.
Bedriya conceived naturally, without the aid of in vitro fertilisation (IVF). IVF is not available in most of Ethiopia, which is one of the 20 poorest nations on Earth.
The chance of conceiving quintuplets naturally is about one in 55 million. IVF increases the likelihood of giving birth to multiple children.
Harar is a thousand-year-old city. Harar is surrounded by a centuries-old defensive wall that has several large gates, including Duke’s Gate. The city is known for its mazelike alleys and traditional houses decorated inside with flat hanging baskets.
Ethiopia is mostly Christian. But Harar is mostly Muslim. It has many picturesque mosques, including the Grand Jami Mosque with its tall white minarets. It is known as “Africa’s Mecca,” and has been called the fourth holiest city of Islam. It has 82 mosques and more than a hundred Islamic shrines within its small, 119-acre walled city.
