A 48-year-old Melbourne mother of 10 is pregnant with quintuplets conceived without the help of IVF.
The mother, who is expected to give birth any day now, became pregnant naturally, the Seven Network reported.
Doctors say the natural pregnancy could be considered a miracle, with the mum’s chance of multiple conception already slim because of her age.
“Fertility naturally declines and to conceive spontaneously after the age of 45 is particularly uncommon, as is a multiple pregnancy after 45,” obstetrician Dr Len Kilman said.
The likelihood of such a conception is thought to be around one in 55 million.
The quintuplets, expected to arrive at the Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne, will be the first set of quins born in Victoria since the 1980 and will be one of only about a dozen sets in the country.
One of those belongs to a Queensland lesbian couple Rosemary Nolan and Marissa Keevers, who gave birth to Noah, Charlie, Eireann, Evie and Abby last year with the help of a sperm donor.
The Nolan-Keevers quins were born more than 13 weeks premature, each weighing less than a kilogram.
The Victorian quintuplets born to the Kissane family in 1980 were 11 weeks premature. None of the babies — four boys and one girl — survived.
While the Monash Medical Centre would not confirm the report, a spokeswoman said they did have a patient expecting a multiple birth.
The woman is said to be in her 29th week of pregnancy.
Video: Quintuplets go home
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