HARARI, Ethiopia — A 35-year-old woman in Ethiopia’s Harari region has given birth to rare quintuplets after spending 12 years trying to conceive.
Bedriya Adem and her husband welcomed four boys and one girl at Hiwot Fana Specialised Hospital, with doctors confirming that both the mother and the babies are in good health.
The hospital said the newborns, who each weighed between 1.3 and 1.4 kilograms, remain under medical care alongside their mother.
Bedriya described the birth as an emotional moment after years of heartbreak and unanswered prayers.
“I cannot express my happiness in words,” she told the BBC, recalling how she had been “filled with depression and pain” before finally becoming a mother.
The first-time mother said she and her husband were “overjoyed” to be “blessed with five children at once”.
According to the hospital’s medical director, Dr Mohammed Nur Abdulahi, the babies have a strong chance of survival and healthy growth because they each weigh more than one kilogram.
He also revealed that Bedriya conceived naturally, without the help of in vitro fertilisation (IVF), making the birth extremely rare. Medical experts estimate the chances of naturally conceiving quintuplets at about one in 55 million.
The delivery was carried out through a Caesarean section on Tuesday evening.
“She received regular medical care during her pregnancy and was informed that she had conceived more than one baby. She had full and proper medical assistance throughout,” Mohammed said, describing the mother’s “excitement”.
Bedriya explained that doctors had initially informed her she was expecting four babies, only to discover during delivery that there was a fifth child.
“I prayed for just one child, and Allah gave me five,” she said while reflecting on her “long wait”.
She also opened up about the emotional burden she carried during the years she struggled to conceive.
“He used to tell me that having [the other child] was enough and that I should not worry, but deep inside I was suffering – psychologically and emotionally – as the entire village questioned my inability to give birth,” she said, referring to her husband’s child from another marriage who lives with them.
“What I endured in the past feels like a distant dream, one I do not even want to recall,” she added.
“I spent 12 years in pain, hiding myself, and praying constantly for children – at last, Allah heard me.”
Despite the joy, Bedriya admitted she is uncertain how she will support her expanded family, as she works as a subsistence farmer.
“But I believe Allah will provide, through the support of my community and the government,” she said.
The couple have named their “five blessings” Naif, Ammar, Munzir, Nazira, and Ansar.
