55-year-old woman gives birth to twins

A 55-year-old woman in the U.S. state of Georgia gave birth to twins this week.

Photo: 55-year-old woman gives birth to twins

Veronica Mensah, a Ghanian native who lives in Georgia, gave birth to a healthy boy and girl just after 9 p.m. Monday at DeKalb Medical, a hospital in suburban Atlanta. Daniel Atsu Dikenou and Diane Atsupui Dikenou each weighed five pounds, eight ounces (2.5 kilos).

Mensah had received in-vitro fertilization. She gave birth at 35 weeks gestation, and they are her first children.

"I feel so happy to be a mother," Mensah said, in a prepared statement released by the hospital.

Multiple births to women of menopausal age are considered unusual, but at least 50 U.S. women age 50 and older give birth to twins in a year, according to federal health statistics.

In May, a 60-year-old psychologist in New Jersey gave birth to twins via Caesarean section. She is believed to be the oldest U.S. woman to have twins.