'Pregnancy over age 50' has become more possible for
women, due to recent advances in
assisted reproductive technology, such as
egg donation.
[1] Typically, a woman's
fecundity ends with
menopause, which usually begins between ages 40 and 51 (men, in contrast, generally remain theoretically
fertile throughout their lives, and practically fertile into their 60s, although the risk of genetic defects is greatly increased due to the
paternal age effect
[2]).
Pregnancy over age 35 is associated with increased risks.
In the
United States, between 1997 and 1999, 539 births were reported among mothers over age 50.
1 According to statistics from the
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, in
Britain, more than 20 babies are born to women over age 50 per year through
in-vitro fertilization.
[3] The oldest known mother in the world currently is Maria del Carmen Bousada de Lara of
Spain who gave birth to
twins at the age of 66 in 2006. The oldest known natural mother (conceiving without fertility treatment) is Dawn Brooke of Guernsey who gave birth to a boy in 1997 at the age of 59.
Medical considerations
Risks associated with childbearing over the age of 50 include an increased incidence of
gestational diabetes,
hypertension, delivery by
caesarean section,
miscarriage,
preeclampsia, and
placenta previa.
1[4] In comparison to mothers between 20 and 29 years of age, mothers over 50 were at almost three times the risk of
low birth weight,
premature birth, and extremely premature birth; their risk of extremely low birth weight, small size for
gestational age, and
fetal mortality was almost double.
[5]
Cases of pregnancy over 50
Historical references
An unverified record is that of Margaret Krasiowa (1655-1763) of
Konin,
Poland, who is said to have married her third husband in her 94th year of life and borne two sons and a daughter by him during their 14 years of marriage.
1
Birth mothers over 50
Age 50 to 54
★ '1999:' Aracelia Garcia of
Sunnyside, Washington astounded doctors when she naturally conceived all-female triplets in 1999 at the age of 54.
[6][7]
★ '2000:'
Elizabeth Edwards, wife of the former
U.S. Senator and
Vice Presential nominee
John Edwards, gave birth to son Jack in 2000 at the age of 51. The couple decided to have children again after their 16-year-old son was killed in a car accident in 1996.
★ '2001:' American portrait
photographer Annie Leibovitz was 52 when she gave birth to her daughter Sarah in October 2001.
Age 55 to 59
★ '1997:' Dawn Brooke, aged 59, of
Guernsey, gave birth by
Caesarian section to a boy, Harry John Brooke
[8], at Princess Elizabeth Hospital, Guernsey on
August 20,
1997. The father was Raymond Brooke, to whom she had been married for three months by the time of the birth. The birth was unplanned and Mrs Brooke is the oldest known natural mother to have conceived without medical assistance.
[9]. However, there has been speculation that hormone replacement therapy contributed to conception.
[10]
★ '1998:' Judith Cates of
Evansville, Indiana, gave birth to
twin girls on
December 12,
1998, at the age of 57. She got pregnant after
in-vitro fertilization (IVF), and she has said that she and her husband, Carl, are often mistaken for grandparents.
[11]
★ '2004:' Aleta St. James gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, at
Mount Sinai Hospital in
New York City on
November 9,
2004, at the age of 56, after having undergone IVF treatment. The birth occurred just three days before St. James's 57th birthday.
4
★ '2006:' Lauren Cohen of
Paramus, New Jersey, gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, in
New York on
May 22,
2006, at the age of 59. Cohen and her husband, Frank Garcia, had previously had a daughter together through IVF in December 2004, using the husband's sperm and an egg from a donor. The couple, faced with either
giving away the
embryos left over from the first IVF treatment or letting them be destroyed, decided to try again. As to why she chose to have children at such a late age, with a husband approximately 20 years her junior, Cohen stated, "I just thought it would be unfair to Frank for him to marry me and never have the opportunity to have a child. He never asked me to have a child, but I knew it would make him happy".
[12][13]
Birth mothers over 60
Age 60 to 64
★ '1994:' Rosanna Della Corte of
Canino,
Italy gave birth to a son on
July 18,
1994, at the age of 62. After their first son was killed when a car crashed into his
motorcycle in 1991, Della Corte and her husband, Mauro, decided to attempt to have a second child. The couple tried to adopt, but were unable to, as under Italian law an adoptive parent could be no more than 40 years older than their potential child. Mauro read in the newspaper about an Italian doctor,
Severino Antinori, who had helped a woman in her late 50s have a child. With Dr. Antinori's help, the Della Cortes conceived through IVF, using a donor egg and Mauro's sperm. Della Corte became pregnant on the first attempt, but
miscarried after 40 days, and it took 6 more attempts before there was success.
[14]
★ '1996:' Arceli Keh of
Highland, California gave birth to a daughter on
November 7,
1996, at the age of 63. She and her husband, Isagani, had been married for 16 years when they decided to try to have a child. In order to gain admission to a fertility program that had an upper age limit of 55, Keh told doctors that she was 50, although she was in fact 10 years older at the time. Five IVF transfer cycles were required before Keh successfully became pregnant. The ovum came from a donor and was
fertilized with sperm from Keh's husband.
[15][4]
★ '1997:' Liz Buttle of
Wales gave birth to a son in November 1997, at the age of 60, after she had informed doctors that she was 49 in order to be eligible for fertility treatment.
[17][18]
★ '2004:' Papathiammal Subramaniam gave birth to a son in
Erode,
Tamil Nadu,
India on
February 23,
2004, at the age of 64. The baby was delivered by
caesarean section and weighed 1.75 kg (3.8 lb). He was conceived through IVF, with an egg donated by a 30-year-old relative of Subramaniam and the sperm of Subramaniam's husband, a 74-year-old farmer.
[19]
★ '2006:' Janise Wulf of
Redding, California gave birth to a son on
February 19,
2006, at the age of 62. The baby was delivered by caesarean section, weighing 6 lb 10 oz (3.00 kg), and was conceived through in-vitro fertilization. Her doctor stated that, for women over 35, giving birth can have risks, but he agreed to oversee the procedure because Wulf was in good health. She and her second husband, Scott, said that they decided to have children together because Scott had not had any children in his previous marriage, and because they did not want their other son, also conceived through IVF, to grow up an only child. Of the 11 children Wulf had previously, the oldest was 40 at the time of the birth, and the youngest was 3. Wulf also has several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
[20][21]
★ '2006:'
Patricia Rashbrook gave birth to a son in
Brighton,
United Kingdom on
July 5,
2006, at the age of 62. She and her husband, John Farrant, received IVF treatment from the same fertility expert who the Della Cortes had consulted, Severino Antinori. The birth of the baby, which was born by caesarean section and weighed 6 lb 10.5 oz (3.02 kg), sparked debate over the ethics of late motherhood in the U.K.
[22][23]
★ '2007:' Frieda Birnbaum of
Saddle River, New Jersey gave birth to twin sons on
May 22,
2007, at the age of 60. The babies weighed 4 lb 11 oz (2.12 kg) each and were delivered by caesarean section. Birnbaum underwent IVF at a
South African fertility clinic specializing in older women. She and her husband, who have a six-year-old son and two adult children, said that they wanted their younger son to have siblings close in age. Hospital officials believe Birnbaum may be the oldest woman to give birth to twins in the United States.
[24]
Age 65 to 66
★ '2003:' Satyabhama Mahapatra of
Nayagarh,
Orissa,
India gave
birth to a
son on
April 9,
2003, at the age of 65. The
baby, weighing 6 lb 8 oz (2.95 kg), was born by
caesarean section. Mahapatra became pregnant through the help of
IVF, using an
ovum donated by her 26-year-old niece and
sperm from her
husband, Krishnachandra, with whom this was their first
child after 50 years of
marriage. Doctors had attempted to persuade she and her
husband out of undergoing
IVF. Mahapatra was also hospitalized for the last
trimester of her pregnancy.
[25]
★ '2005:'
Adriana Iliescu gave birth to a daughter at a hospital in
Bucharest,
Romania on
January 16,
2005, at the age of 66. After undergoing IVF using donated eggs, Iliescu initially became pregnant with
triplets, but two of the
fetuses
died in utero. The surviving one was delivered by caesarean section.
★ '2006:' Maria del Carmen Bousada de Lara (b. January 5, 1940) gave birth to twin sons at Sant Pau Hospital in
Barcelona, Spain on
December 29,
2006, at the age of 66 — one week before her 67th birthday. The babies were delivered
prematurely by caesarean section and weighed 3.5
lb (1.6 kg) each. Bousada became pregnant after receiving IVF treatment using
donor eggs from from a fertility clinic in
Los Angeles, California, which claims that Bousada informed them that she was 55. Her family was unaware that she had gone to the United States to undergo fertility treatment prior to the births. Manuel Bousada de Lara, Bousada's older brother, criticized her decision, expressing concern over whether she would be able to raise children at her age. In response to such concerns, Bousada stated, "My mum lived to be 101 and there's no reason I couldn't do the same". She is currently the oldest known birth mother in the world and may also be the first known to have given birth to twins at over age 60.
[26][27][28] [29]
★ '2007:' An unnamed
Austrian woman gave birth to her third child in
March 2007 at the age of 66. She had previously given birth to another child, a girl weighing 6 lb (2.72 kg), in the middle of
December 2002 at the age of 61. Her oldest child, a daughter, is 30. Both pregnancies over 60 were made possible by IVF. The second was overseen by Severino Antinori. This could be the first and only known case in the world of two pregnancies and births at over age 60.
[30] [31]
Philosophical, Ethical, and Medical Arguments Against Late-Life Pregnancy
Pregnancies among older women have been a subject of controversy and debate. Some argue against motherhood late in life on the basis of the health risks involved, or out of concern that an older mother might not be able or around to care for a child as she ages, while others contend that having a child is a fundamental right and that it is commitment to a child's wellbeing, not the parents' ages, that matters.
[32][33][34]
A survey of attitudes towards pregnancy over age 50 among
Australians found the 54.6% believed it was acceptable for a postmenopausal woman to have her own eggs transferred and that 37.9% believed it was acceptable for a postmenopausal women to receive donated
ova or
embryos.
[35]
Governments have sometimes taken actions to regulate or restrict later-in-life childbearing. In the 1990s,
France approved a bill which prohibited postmenopausal pregnancy, which the French Minister of Health at the time,
Philippe Douste-Blazy, said was "...immoral as well as dangerous to the health of mother and child". In
Italy, the Association of Medical Practitioners and Dentists prevented its members from providing women aged 50 and over with fertility treatment, and the National Council of the Federation of Doctors would not allow anyone but married,
heterosexual couples to undergo
artificial insemination.
Britain's then-
Secretary of State for Health,
Virginia Bottomley, stated, "Women do not have the right to have a child; the child has a right to a suitable home".
However, in 2005, age restrictions on IVF in the United Kingdom were officially withdrawn.
[36]
See also
★
Mother
★
Female fertility after 30
★
Pregnancy
★
Sexuality in older age
★
Teenage pregnancy
★
List of youngest birth mothers
References
1. Salihu, Hamisu M., Shumpert, M. Nicole, Slay, Martha, Kirby, Russell S., & Alexander, Greg R. (2003). Childbearing Beyond Maternal Age 50 and Fetal Outcomes in the United States. ''Obstetrics & Gynecology, 102 (5),'' 1006-1014. Retrieved March 5, 2007.
2. The Alfred Foundation. (n.d.) Men's Health. Retrieved May 18, 2007.
3. Hall, Sarah. (May 8, 2006). "Surge in number of children in UK born to mothers over 50." ''The Guardian.'' Retrieved March 29, 2007.
4. Schienberg, Jonathan. (November 9, 2004). "New Age mystic to become mom at 57." ''CNN.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
5. Lister Hill Center for Health Policy. (October 31, 2003). Pregnancy After 50: More Risky Than We Thought? Retrieved March 4, 2007.
6. Davis, Simon. (January 8, 2000). "Triplet shock for 54-year-old grandmother. ''Telegraph.'' Retrieved March 2, 2007.
7. "Grandmother of 15 pregnant with triplets." (January 7, 2000). ''Amarillo Globe-News.'' Retrieved March 2, 2007.
8. "[1]
9. "[2]"
10. "HRT could have triggered pregnancy in world's oldest mum."
11. "More older women reveling in motherhood." (December 3, 2004). ''MSNBC.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
12. "Mom says no big deal having twins at 59." (July 5, 2006). ''Science Daily.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
13. Lamb, William. (July 4, 2006). "New mom at 59 doesn't see herself as role model." ''The Record.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
14. D'Emilio, Frances. (July 22, 1997). "A child to relieve her grief." ''SouthCoast Today.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
15. "18 Ways to Make a Baby: Student Handout." (2001). ''NOVA Online'' . Retrieved March 7, 2007.
16. Schienberg, Jonathan. (November 9, 2004). "New Age mystic to become mom at 57." ''CNN.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
17. "'I had to lie about my age'." (May 5, 2006). ''Telegraph.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
18. O'Neill, Sean. (November 20, 1998). "First birthday for baby born to woman aged 60." ''Telegraph.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
19. " 64-year-old woman delivers baby." (February 23, 2004). ''BBC News.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
20. "Great-Grandmother Gives Birth at 62." (February 19, 2006). ''ABC News.'' Retrieved March 4, 2003.
21. Goldenberg, Suzanne. (February 23, 2006). "Woman, 62, gives birth to 12th child." ''The Guardian.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
22. "62-year-old British woman gives birth." (July 10, 2006). ''CTV.ca.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
23. "Briton becomes new mother at 62." (July 8, 2006). ''BBC News.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
24. "60-Year-Old Woman Gives Birth To Twins." (May 24, 2007). ''CBS News.'' Retrieved May 25, 2007.
25. "Indian 'is world's oldest mother'." (April 9, 2003). ''BBC News.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
26. "Family Criticizes 67-Year-Old Spanish Woman Who Gave Birth." (January 14, 2007). ''FOXnews.com.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
27. Pool, Bob & Ganga, and Maria L. La. (January 30, 2007). "Fooling nature, and the fertility doctor." ''Los Angeles Times.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
28. "Oldest woman to give birth 'deceived clinic'." (January 29, 2007). ''Stuff.co.nz.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
29. "Oldest mum 'lied to IVF clinic'." (January 29, 2007). ''ABC News Online.'' Retrieived May 25, 2007.
30. "Austria: 66-year-old woman gives birth to healthy baby." (March 28, 2007). ''International Herald Tribune.'' Retrieved April 18, 2007.
31. "Die Geheimnisse der späten Mutter." (n.d.). ''Österreich.'' Retrieved June 23, 2007.
32. "Motherhood At Mid-Life—A Medical and Ethical Dilema." (July 1997). ''St. Louis Times.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
33. Hinman, Lawrence M. (April 30, 1997). "What Counts in Parenthood?." ''San Diego Union-Tribune.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
34. Hinman, Lawrence M. Are Some Parents Too Old?. Retrieved March 4, 2007.
35. Bowman, M. C., & Saunders, D. M. (1994). Community attitudes to maternal age and pregnancy after assisted reproductive technology: too old at 50 years?. ''Human Reproduction, 9 (1)'', 167-171. Retrieved March 4, 2007.
36. Gray, Louise. (November 3, 2005). "Couples any age to be allowed to apply for fertility treatment." ''The Scotsman.'' Retrieved March 4, 2007.
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