•Mr and Mrs Ajibola
At 63, most women have long closed the chapter on motherhood, but Mrs Janet Ajibola defied the odds. After more than 40 years of marriage and countless setbacks, she welcomed not one, but twin boys — without the aid of IVF. In this interview, she recounts her remarkable journey, reports Saturday PUNCH.
Excerpts:
Congratulations. You recently had twin boys after a long wait…
Not just a baby — I had twins. Two boys. I delivered them on October 3, 2025.
These babies came at the age of 63. Are they your first?
These are my first children, but it was not my first pregnancy. I will be 63 this December. I was born on December 17, 1962.
At this point, tell us a bit about yourself
I retired from the Lagos State Ministry of Education as a teacher. It was a voluntary retirement many years ago. Since then, I have been committed to ministerial work.
What job do you do now?
I am an evangelist and also a midwife. I take deliveries and care for pregnant women. I attend Christ Apostolic Church.
How long have you been married?
For over 40 years. My marriage will be 41 years in February 2026.
Why didn’t you have a child until now?
I used to get pregnant, but during antenatal visits, scans would show no foetus. Instead, I was diagnosed with fibroids. In 2009, I had surgery to remove them at Babcock University Medical Centre, but they grew back.
Again in 2013, the same thing happened — scans kept showing no pregnancy, no conception. We continued praying. People advised us to try different things, but we chose to rely on God’s promises.
About a year ago, someone tested me and confirmed that I was pregnant, but I never found her again. Earlier this year, another person examined me and prescribed some drugs — immune boosters and routine pregnancy medication, though in higher milligrammes. She also travelled, and I couldn’t reach her.
Eventually, someone introduced me to another woman. She tested me and said, “You are carrying two.” She confirmed I was due for delivery.
I prepared myself, went there, and by the grace of God, on October 3, I gave birth.
Was it a natural delivery?
Yes, completely natural.
Really? That’s incredible. During the pregnancy, your stomach didn’t protrude much?
It came out a little, but not enough for people to easily recognise that I was pregnant. Some people who saw me greeted me in a way that suggested they knew, but it wasn’t pronounced.
So, you didn’t feel the usual signs of pregnancy?
I felt them. That’s why I kept going for scans. I felt movement, but the scans kept giving conflicting results.
What were the scans saying?
They kept saying there was no baby.
Do you know how many pregnancies you had previously?
I can’t remember the exact number. There were many. I remember one that ended because of fibroids, and several others over the years before this final one. We kept trusting God until He fulfilled His promise.
Just to clarify, you did not undergo IVF?
No, not at all. Some people advised us to try it, but we said no. We didn’t even have the money for it. I had already retired, and my husband had retired too. He worked in an oil company before retirement. Maybe if it were during that time, we might have considered it. But at this stage, there was no money for IVF, even if we wanted it.
Are they identical twins?
Yes, they are identical.
During those 41 years of marriage without a child, how did you and your husband cope?
We thank God for His grace. God truly saw us through. And I appreciate my husband; he is genuinely a child of God. He always reminded me that confusing scan results should not shift our focus from God.
He always stood on Matthew 6:33: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”
My husband would say, “If God does it, we give Him the glory. If He doesn’t, it will not change our faith.” That conviction kept us going.
People said many things, but we held on to God. It wasn’t easy, but God surrounded us with Christian brothers, sisters, and families who encouraged us. And throughout those 40-plus years, our home was never without children — relatives’ children, friends’ children, and even children who we did not know their parents. Many lived with us, and we supported them.
So when people heard that we had finally given birth, even neighbours were shocked. They kept asking, “Which child? Who gave birth?” This was because they always saw children in our home and assumed they were ours. That helped us emotionally.
We also had ministers of God and spiritual fathers who prayed with us and encouraged us, reminding us that God never fails. Yes, there were moments of discouragement — we are human — but it never happened that both of us were down at the same time. When one person felt weak, the other encouraged them until strength returned. That was how we survived all those years.
Your in-laws — how did you handle issues concerning them?
I never met my mother-in-law, but I knew my father-in-law before he passed. He was a true man of God. He always advised me to hold on to God and trust Him. That was his consistent message. Of course, there were others with different attitudes and ideas, but those things didn’t bother me. What mattered to me was what God had promised. I focused on that.
Since you are a midwife caring for pregnant women, did your personal situation affect you?
Honestly, it was special grace. It never affected my ministry. People in the church didn’t even know that I was waiting on God for my children.
Whenever I cared for a pregnant woman, my mind was on God and on what He wanted to do in that person’s life. When we prayed with women trusting God for the fruit of the womb, they never suspected that I was also waiting.
Recently, when people shared their testimonies, sometimes I would feel something in my heart, but I encouraged myself in the Lord and kept my faith alive. I always believed that what I felt moving inside me would one day come out as a child. I didn’t know at the time that there were two babies.
Whenever altar calls were made for those trusting God for the fruit of the womb, I never stepped out. I simply held on to God quietly, knowing that my time would come.
What advice do you have for other women seeking the fruit of the womb?
Every person’s journey is different. There are many reasons why conception may be delayed, and only God truly knows why.
In my journey, I have come to realise that God wants to demonstrate His glory. We prayed, and He answered in His own time. God helped me overcome challenges that we could not explain. When I finally delivered, I understood that He wanted to prove all human assumptions wrong and take the glory for Himself.
I can say with certainty that God is not bound by the laws of nature. He has an appointed time for every event, and nothing — no enemy or obstacle — can thwart His will.
My advice to anyone waiting on God is this: exercise patience, even when you do not understand the delay. My husband and I visited hospitals, underwent numerous tests, checked everything — from blocked tubes to male fertility — but our desire still seemed delayed. Yet delay is not denial.
Women waiting on God should continue to trust and hope. The Bible assures us that those who wait on the Lord will not be put to shame. God will not disappoint.
Many people feel pressured to take shortcuts or resort to questionable practices, but these paths often lead to trouble. It is far better to trust God’s timing. Some may mock you, and some may even threaten abandonment, but remain steadfast.
I have seen cases where husbands remarried, assuming the fault was with the wife, only to discover the issue was elsewhere. Others lose all hope, and then suddenly God intervenes.
One cannot always explain the cause, but God has a reason for every delay. It is an opportunity to grow closer to Him, understand His plan, and prepare for a testimony.
If the delay is caused by the enemy, God will ultimately prove the enemy wrong. That is my belief and my hope for all who are waiting.
