On Tuesday, a Malian woman gave birth to nonuplets in Morocco, and all nine babies are “doing well,” according to her government, though Moroccan authorities have yet to confirm what would be an extremely rare occurrence.

On March 30, Mali’s government flew Halima Cisse, a 25-year-old woman from the country’s north, to Morocco for better care. Initially, she was thought to be carrying septuplets.

Women who successfully carry septuplets to term are extremely rare, and nonuplets are even rarer.

Rachid Koudhari, a spokesman for the Moroccan health ministry, said he was unaware of such a multiple birth in one of the country’s hospitals.

Cisse had given birth by Caesarean section to five girls and four boys, according to Mali’s health ministry.

“So far, the mother and babies are doing well,” Mali’s Health Minister Fanta Siby told AFP, adding that the Malian doctor who accompanied Cisse to Morocco had kept her informed. “They are expected to return home in a few weeks,” she added.

According to local press reports, doctors were concerned about Cisse’s health as well as her babies’ chances of survival.

Ultrasound examinations conducted in both Mali and Morocco indicated that Cisse was carrying seven babies, according to Mali’s health ministry.

Siby congratulated “the medical teams of Mali and Morocco, whose professionalism is at the origin of the happy outcome of this pregnancy”.