2nd October 2013 | by MFC Team
Britain’s oldest sole-support mom of IVF twins wishes she had a partner to help her
After 4 failed IVF attempts, at 58 years of age, single parent Carole Hobson had twins via embryo donation at a clinic in India, making her Britain’s oldest mom of IVF twins. As is common with twin pregnancies, the twins were born 9 weeks early and spent several months in neo-natal care – followed by several surgeries.
Carole acknowledges that she didn’t have a good idea of what she was getting into when she decided to pursue single parenthood in her mid-50s. Carole recently turned 61, retired from her job as a social worker, and started collecting her seniors’ pension. Now that her twins Freida and Matthew are toddlers, she’s beginning to talk about the challenges of older single parenthood. Now that she is in her 60s and experiencing the physical effects of aging such as severe back pain, she finds it challenging to take care of two active toddlers. She finds herself exhausted by the time the twins go to bed each night.
There is also the sticky issue of peoples’ perceptions of Carole. They often assume she is the twins’ grandmother rather than their mother, and don’t hesitate to ask, “are you their nanna?” Even one of the twins, Freida, recently began calling Carole “nanna” instead of “mama.”
Despite these difficulties, Carole says that her age isn’t her primary issue, it’s needing “an extra pair of hands” – the physical support of a partner who can help take care of two active toddlers. This support would be especially welcomed when one or both of the twins are sick – as happened recently when one of the twins had to spend time in the hospital. Although it would be easier with a partner, Carole says: “Any single parent will have experienced something akin to what I’m going through. You simply muddle through and cope because you have to.”
Read more about Carole’s experience of older single motherhood here.
Read more about the pros and cons of older parenthood here.
Read more about single parenthood here.
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