A 25-year-old woman in Mali, a West African country, has given birth to nine babies - two more than doctors expected - according to the country's Ministry of Health, joining a small group of women who have given birth to twins.
Halima Cisse, 25, was expected to give birth to seven babies, according to ultrasounds performed in Morocco and Mali. All babies came to life through a cesarean birth.
Halima's pregnancy has fascinated the African nation and attracted the attention of its leaders. When doctors in March said Halima needed special care, the country's leader, Bah Ndaw, ordered her to be sent to Morocco, where she gave birth to five girls and four boys, according to the Malian health ministry.
"Mothers and babies are recovering," Health Minister Fanta Siby told Agence France-Presse. They will return home within a few weeks, she added.
Doctors were concerned about Halima's health, according to local press reports, as well as the babies' chances of survival. Gemini are extremely rare.
Medical complications in multiple births of this type often mean that some of the babies are not alive, but the medicine of the last two decades has improved significantly.
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