Ugandan man sires first child at 83 years

The Ugandan man has made headlines after siring his first born child at the ripe old age of 83.

In 1962, when he was just 23, Mwesigye married his first wife Jane Tukamuhabwa, all in the hopes of starting a life and a family together with the apple of his eye.

Despite numerous attempts, Mwesigye and his wife failed to bear children even though doctors reassured the pair that they were fertile enough to reproduce.

Their faith did not falter though, as the couple continued to wait and pray for their first born child. Throughout the trialing period, Mwesigye did not once blame his wife for their inability to have children.

In most African cultures, women are the usual fall guys when siring children proves difficult among couples despite science showing that men are equally to blame for such shortcomings.

The pair continued to soldier on but their optimism was however crushed in 2005 after Tukamuhabwa was diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Thirteen years later, in 2018, Tukamuhabwa would succumb to the illness, leaving behind Mwesigye who was now 79 years old. The couple had been married for an impressive 56 years straight, all without siring a child.

 “We did everything together but it was so unfortunate that she passed on without giving birth,” Mwesigye told the Monitor.

Mwesigye however openly held on to the idea that he would still be called a father before departing from this world, despite secretly holding fears that he would not continue his family tree.

“Dying without a child is such a painful thing. In our African culture, one is only remembered when they leave a child on earth. I used to wake up early in the morning, sit in my sitting room and ask myself how I will be remembered after my death since I had no child,” he said.

Some time after his wife passed away, Mwesigye would find love again, remarrying a 25-year-old woman but the decision did not come easy.

“I lived with workers and some adopted children after the death of my wife but they could sleep in boys’ quarters and I would sleep alone in the main house.  That’s when life turned against me and I thought of marrying the second wife,” he said.

His sister, Feredansi Tumushabe, 57, actually arranged his second union after her brother told her he was thinking about remarrying.

At 79, Mwesigye, had already lost his natural charm that drew women to him in his younger and more youthful days.

“I was excited to the extent that I even cried and asked one of my workers to slaughter a goat and that’s how I got my second wife Sharon Arinaitwe,” he said.

According to Arinaitwe, it took some convincing from Tumushabe for her to agree to marry Mwesigye but she was eventually won over after interacting with him; a man she describes as kind.

“We reached his home amid rain. I saw an old man and thought that his son was the one to marry me. Later in the evening, the man told me that he wants to marry me. That is when I realised that my husband was an old man,” she said.

Fast forward to March 2022, Mwesigye and his second wife welcomed their first child, a bouncing baby boy.

“I am so happy that God has blessed me with a child at my old age. I never thought of getting one but I kept on praying and finally God answered my prayers and now I am a father,” Mwesigye said.