South African woman gives birth to 10 babies in world first, reports say

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A South African woman has given birth to 10 babies, in what could be the world’s first recorded case of decuplets.

Gosiame Thamara Sithole from the Tembisa township near Johannesburg gave birth to the babies on Monday, according to a local news website.

The babies - seven boys and three girls - have not made a public appearance or been captured on camera, although the IOL website reported they were born prematurely.The South African government said it is still trying to verify the claim.

Ms Sithole's husband, Teboho Tsotetsi, told IOL his wife had given birth in a hospital in the capital Pretoria. He said it was a big surprise for the parents after doctors detected eight babies in pre-natal scans.

“It’s seven boys and three girls. She was seven months and seven days pregnant. I am happy. I am emotional,” the newspaper quoted Tsotetsi as saying. The couple already have six-year-old twins.

South Africans are eagerly waiting for proof of what would be a world record. Relatives and neighbours of the couple have insisted the news is true. “For her to receive 10 blessings at one given time, we thank God for that,” Wilson Machaya, a neighbour of the family in Tembisa said.

“And because we are neighbours we will have to assist in any way possible.” A Malian woman gave birth to nine babies only last month in Morocco, in what was hailed as the world’s first case of nonuplets.

A pram stands outside the home of Gosiame Thamara Sithole in Tembisa, near Johannesburg, on Thursday. Credit: AP

The Department of Social Development in South Africa’s Gauteng province confirmed it was tracing Ms Sithole and spokesperson Feziwe Ndwayana said they would make an announcement after meeting with the family.

Another local government department said earlier this week that it had no record of the babies’ births in any of the province’s hospitals. The Pretoria News initially broke the story with an interview with Ms Sithole and Mr Tsotetsi at their home, which was conducted nearly a month ago and when they thought they were having eight babies.

They requested that the story only be published after the babies were born for safety and cultural reasons, the newspaper said. According to the report, Ms Sithole went on leave earlier than expected from her job as a retail store manager because she could no longer cope. One organisation has given £50,000 to the couple to help and other South Africans are being encouraged to donate. Alongside #Tembisa10, the term #NationalBabyShower has been trending on Twitter.