Oldest mother dies

[Ed]

This kinda speaks for itself:

A Spanish pensioner who became the oldest woman in the world to give birth in 2006 when she had twin boys at the age of 67 using in vitro fertilization has died, local media reported Wednesday. The Barcelona hospital where Carmen Bousada gave birth in 2006, who was single, died on Saturday from a cancer which was diagnosed just one year after she gave birth to Cristian and Pau, daily Diario de Cadiz reported citing her brother.

She gave birth to the twins on December 26, 2006 at Barcelona hospital after undergoing treatment at a US fertility clinic, sparking a worldwide debate.

More here: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090715/twl-oldest-woman-to-give-birth-dies-in-s-b9f3b50.html

[Woody]

This kinda speaks for itself:

It sure does. And to paraphrase "Don't screw with Nature, because Nature will define your life when it suits her."

[delph_ambi]

The 'screwing with nature' is done by our morally idiotic society that discourages teenagers from becoming pregnant, calling them selfish, despite the fact that that's the healthiest time for both mother and child -- and therefore the human race. Send that biological impulse underground, and it will re-emerge later, stronger than ever, as happened to this poor woman.

A mother of very young children dies. It's terribly sad.

[Ed]

Yes, my first thought when the whole thing came to light originally was that the children would suffer, one way or another. They would either have a mother who was too old and decrepit to play with them, or they would lose her at an early age, or both. There's a good reason for the menopause being when it is in a woman's life.

Personally, I think the best time for people to have kids is when they're in their twenties, rather than their teenage years, because you've got that little bit more maturity than a teenager, and hopefully a bit more financial security. We only started having kids at age thirty, which IMO was a little bit later than I would have liked, in hindsight.

[delph_ambi]

I had all my kids in my twenties, which is the optimum age in many ways -- except biologically. It's a bit of a compromise really. By the time you're in your twenties, you're already older than ideal for health reasons, but are more likely to have the maturity to deal with society's demands on mothers. Thirties means a drop in fertility, and the possibility of seriously interrupted careers. Forties means going down the mother and toddler group and having the other mums think you're the kid's granny. Fifties is desperate, full of risks for mother and child, and means hard work as a pensioner dealing with teenagers later on. Sixties is ... horribly difficult, I would imagine, but not impossible. Plenty of kids through the ages have lost their parents for one reason or another, and been brought up by grandparents. The grandparents aren't told they're too old. They're often respected for doing a good job.

That's all from the parents' point of view, of course. What about the child's? Children like to fit in. My Dad didn't start a family until he was in his forties. I remember thinking it weird that all my friends had such young fathers, and feeling slightly embarrassed by mine, but the feeling passed. It really is no big deal. Families come in all manner of variations. My Mum's sister was also her cousin and married an uncle. Did it matter? No. Makes drawing the family tree tricky, but that's all.

What were we saying? Oh yes. Older mothers. The difficulty is separating the instinctive imperative from the societal imperative. Luckily the instinctive usually wins. If it didn't, the human race would die out.

[Rev. Austin]

I'm 30 next month and you guys are making me feel all broody - don't tell my girlfriend haha

But seriously, this is awful.  I suppose at least the kids do have family to look after them, but I can imagine the conversations when they're older about how their mum was elderly and died before getting a chance to spend very long with them.  I think I'd be retroactively cheesed if I found out my mum had me, knowing full well that the chances of seeing me grow up were slim.

[delph_ambi]

But then someone might point out to you that at least you exist to be cheesed. If your mum hadn't made that decision, there would be no you.

[Rev. Austin]

An equally valid point.  This conversation's starting to remind me of Back To The Future.

[Ed]

But then someone might point out to you that at least you exist to be cheesed. If your mum hadn't made that decision, there would be no you.

Or that embryo might have ended up in an otherwise healthy twenty-five year-old. In which case you would still have existed, but with a chance at a more normal life, rather than being know as the child of that freaky old lady who got in-vitro at age 67.

[elay2433]

Looks like someone's out to set a new record. This time it's a 72 year old woman trying to get pregnant.

http://news.aol.com/health/article/72-year-old-ivf-pregnancy/571249?icid=main|htmlws-main|dl7|link6|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Fhealth%2Farticle%2F72-year-old-ivf-pregnancy%2F571249

[Ed]

Unreal - she says she's ready for the challenge. WTF? It's not a challenge, you old bat, it's a human life we're talking about

The thing is, if she's never even had a serious relationship with another adult, what makes her think she can cultivate one with a baby? Stupid and irresponsible, and that goes not just to her, but to the doctors who are willing to indulge her.