30th July 2012 | by MFC Team
Britain’s oldest first-time mother regrets having a child so late in life
In 2009 Susan Tollefsen became famous for being the oldest first-time parent in Britain. At the age of 57 she became a mother through IVF treatments undertaken in a Russian clinic with the donated eggs of a younger woman and the sperm of her younger partner. At the time, she defended her choice, saying her partner was 11 years younger than her and that if anything happened to her, he would be able to take care of the child. But many people criticized her, saying that she was too old to become a mother.
Recently, in a media interview Susan admitted that she likely waited too long to become a parent. She and her partner have split up so she is the primary caregiver for her 3 year old daughter. Recently, she has had a number of serious health problems that have made providing care for her daughter difficult. Susan now believes that there should be a limit of age 50 for IVF treatments. Susan doesn’t regret having her daughter, but admits that her critics were probably right. She feels sad that she won’t likely be able to watch her daughter grow up, get married, and have children.
At 70 years of age, Omkari Panwar is the oldest known woman to have twins – a boy and a girl – using IVF and the donated eggs of a younger woman. Omkari already had 2 grown daughters and 5 grandchildren but she and her 76 year old husband wanted a male heir.
Read about Susan’s story:
IVF mum, 61: My critics were right and age limits should be 50 [Daily Mail]
Britain’s oldest first-time mother regrets having daughter so late [The Telegraph]
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