A 55-year-old Indian woman living in northern Italy has given birth to quadruplets after returning to India for fertility treatment.
The woman, who has worked as a cleaner in Suzzara for 15 years, went to her native country for IVF treatment after a number of failed attempts in Italy.
Italy has one of the most restrictive assisted fertility laws in Europe and the number of couples who go abroad for treatment has quadrupled sine the law came into force in 2004.
The four baby boys, Manav, Manmeet, Roshan and Radveer, were born prematurely but are said to be doing well in an incubator in the intensive care department of a Mantua hospital.
''We are happy, we wanted these children so much,'' said the father of the boys, 38-year-old metalworker Pabla Maghar Singh.
According to the last annual population report by national statistics bureau Istat, Italy's birth rate rose to a 16-year high of 1.35 in 2006 but was still lower than the EU average of 1.52 and well below the replacement level of 2.2 for a stable population.
Istat said the rise was affected by an increase in the birthrate among immigrant families, which is much higher than their Italian counterparts at 2.41 children each.
In 2006, births among the immigrant population accounted for 10.3% or 58,000 of all babies born in Italy.
