A 52-year-old woman gave birth to her daughters’ twins on Crete thanks to the technique of in vitro fertilization (IVF), doctors at a private clinic in Hania said yesterday.

“The lady decided to bear her daughter’s children, or her grandchildren, as her daughter had been unable to become pregnant,” chief obstetrician Haralambos Batakis said.

Using the established IVF technique, the daughter’s eggs were removed and processed along with her husband’s sperm. The embryos that developed were then transferred into the 54-year-old’s uterus where they grew.

The two baby boys, each weighing 2.5 kilos, and the 54-year-old were in good health, doctors said. They stressed however that the operation had been difficult due to the advanced age of the woman carrying the babies.