“I cried. I cried and walked around my house alone – up and down,” said the father of South Africa’s miracle decuplets as he reminisced on first hearing the news.
Tsotetsi’s wife, Gosiame Thamara Sithole, 37, gave birth to seven boys and three girls on Monday, June 7, in Pretoria, as per Pretoria News. This now makes Tsotetsi a father to a total of 16 children.
As reported by IOL, Tsotetsi was in the Mother City when he opened up about the support he and his family have received by the public.
“There’s not many words I have to express how I feel, but in reality I am still shocked, excited and I feel blessed and I feel overwhelmed by the support that I am getting,” he said.
According to the dad, he is grateful that God chose him to be the father to these miracles.
Social media users have responded with skepticism over the legitimacy of the Guinness Record breaking babies, however, Tsotetsi assured South Africans that the reports are true but the matter is sensitive as the babies were born premature.
“It is a very unique situation. They are premature, they are still incubated. Very small as you can think – 10 children in one womb that normally carries one baby.
“They are very small, so the sensitivity that goes into that, even the doctors, they don’t want to risk that.”
The family also want to give doctors and professionals the space and privacy to attend to the babies with the utmost care and professionalism.
“People will see the babies at the right time,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sithole is reported to be doing well after giving birth and started walking on Wednesday, just two days after delivering her ten infants.
“She is doing very well, she gave birth to five babies [naturally] and then had the other five by caesarian.”
It took a small army of medical staff, including six doctors, two gynaecologists, and two nurses to deliver the babies.
Meanwhile, Independent Media’s chairperson, Dr Iqbal Survé, announced the media house’s support of the “extremely special babies.”
His family foundation, Survé Philanthropies, has committed at least R1 million to the family, to be paid over a period of four year to ensure sufficient care.
“We want to make sure that the babies are going to be well looked after. This is not going to be easy for the family to do at one go.
“We want to provide comprehensive support but more importantly, we want to facilitate that the family is secure in this way,” said Dr Survé.
The birth of the babies has gone viral on social media, circulating under the #Tembisa10.
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Picture: Twitter