A 49-year-old Chinese woman last year became the world’s oldest person to give birth to twins following in vitro fertilization (IVF) using her own eggs, a local hospital said yesterday.

　　The woman from east China’s Anhui Province, identified only by her surname Xu, visited Shanghai’s Tongji Hospital after failing to conceive naturally over a period of many years.

　　Doctors there conducted the IVF procedure and Xu gave birth to healthy twin girls in her hometown in March last year.

　　Dr Ji Yazhong from Tongji Hospital’s reproductive medicine department said the record-breaking births were not made public until it was clear the infants were fit and well. Details of the case were published in the latest edition of the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine.

　　“We have continued to follow the girls’ situation and have been told they are both perfectly healthy,” he said.

　　While there has been an increase in the number of woman aged 40-plus seeking fertility treatment in recent years, the chances of successful conception and delivery are slim, Ji said.

　　“The clinical pregnancy rate is as low as 5 to 10 percent for women over 40 undergoing IVF, and some IVF centers will turn down women aged 43 or older,” he said.

　　“Age is the most important factor in determining pregnancy success rates because of the decrease in egg quality,” he said.

　　The previous holder of the record for giving birth to twins following IVF and using her own eggs was a 46-year-old woman from Orlando, Florida in the United States.