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An Indian couple, both over the age of 70, have welcomed their first child into the world. Daljinder Kaur gave birth a month ago after two years of IVF treatments and using donor eggs. This has been the first successful pregnancy for the couple in 46 years of marriage.
The Guardian reports that Kaur said she and her husband, Mohinder Singh Gill (79), have lost all hope of having their own child and have been scorned in a country where infertility is seen as a "curse of God".
“God heard our prayers. My life feels complete now,” she told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “I am looking after the baby all by myself. I feel so full of energy. My husband is also very caring and helps me as much as he can.”
Their baby boy, whom they named Arman, was born healthy and weighed 2kg.
Their fertility specialist, Anurag Bishno, set up the fertility clinic after he received a masters in clinical embryology and has given many couples successful pregnancies at an old age via IVF. Rajo Devi Lohan, one of his first patients, became a first-time mom in 2008 when she gave birth to a baby girl at the age of 70. Another of his clients gave birth to triplets at 66.
Wikipedia states: "Maria del Carmen Bousada de Lara is the oldest verified mother; she was aged 66 years 358 days when she gave birth to twins; she was 130 days older than Adriana Iliescu, who gave birth in 2005 to a baby girl. In both cases the children were conceived through IVF with donor eggs."
The first question that pops up when reading about older moms having babies is, well, who is going to look after the baby in a few years? The second issue is, of course, whether it is ethical for a fertility doctor to offer IVF to mothers in their 60s and 70s. But as quick as it is for the world to jump on these parents, we have no idea what their circumstances, pressures, health status, life expectancy and "succession plan" is. So we just wish the new family well.
Also read: Celeb moms over 40
