67 Year Old Woman Gives Birth to Twins; Sets (Dubious) Record

Science is once again pushing back the date that one can become pregnant and give birth, this time with a 67-year old Spanish woman who became the world's oldest new mother--with twins no less. Whether this is a good thing or bad thing will be debated. Some would say that just because biologically you can do something doesn't mean that it should be done.

The mother reportedly became pregnant via a vitro fertilization treatment received in Latin America. Forget the generation gap, this is well beyond that as the mother will be in her 80's when her new children first hit high school.

Story update: The mother, Carmela Bousada, lied about her age to be able to get the fertility clinic, the Pacific Fertility Center in Los Angeles, to give her the fertility treatment. The clinic said that its success rate for women older than 43 is just 2% compared with 56% for women younger than 34. She also said that she sold her house to pay for the treatment. (Source: LA Times)

additional update: Calling Match.com! She told the UK's News of the World

"Now I’ve got to look for a dad for the kids. I’d like to meet someone a bit younger than me. They’d have to like the children, of course.”

... Ms Bousada admitted that she was “exhausted” from caring for the two babies, feeling her age for the first time.

Source: Times of London

Update: Concern for the Children

Controversy continues to swell as the California doctor of the fertility clinic that treated Bousada reiterated how he was misled and taken advantage of by the Spanish woman and remarked, "She could die 10 years from now. What will happen to the children?" The doctor, Dr. Vicken Sahakian, said that he would never have done the procedure had Bousada not lied and falsified documents regarding her age.

He now knows the 55-year old he thought she was treating was more than 10 years older. The cause for concern for the children is due to the fact that in addition to her advanced age for child rearing, she is a single working mother (a department store clerk) with little in the way of assets to provide for the children. As reported earlier, she sold her home to pay for the treatment and travel to the United States.

This is not the first time something like this has happened. In 1996, a fertility clinic at USC unwittingly helped a woman in her 60's get pregnant. She later gave birth at 63. USC now requires photo identification before accepting a patient.

And who is the egg donor? The records are anonymous but we do know that she was an 18 year old, brunet Italian American.

[LA Times]

What's your opinion? Leave comment below.