Worlds Oldest Mother
 

World's Oldest Mother - Aged 66







A 66-year-old Romanian has become the world's oldest woman ever to give birth.

Doctors in Bucharest said Adriana Iliescu, who was artificially inseminated, delivered a daughter by Caesarean section. The child's twin sister was stillborn.

Iliescu's daughter - Eliza Maria - was born more than six weeks premature, said a Giulesti Maternity Hospital spokeswoman.

She weighed just 3.19lb, less than half the weight of an average newborn, and was in the intensive care unit but breathing on her own, she added.

"We are happy that the mother and child are normal and we hope this will continue,'' said Dr Bogdan Marinescu, who runs the hospital. Doctors performed the emergency Caesarean section after the smaller of Mrs Iliescu's twins died in the womb, the spokeswoman said. That child weighed just 1.54lb.

"The mother is doing well - she is saying she has been given a new lease of life,'' the spokeswoman said.

Mrs Iliescu underwent fertility treatment for nine years, including procedures to reverse the effects of menopause, before being artificially inseminated, Dr Marinescu revealed.

He said he successfully inseminated Mrs Iliescu on his first attempt, and that she initially was carrying triplets but lost the third foetus after nine to 10 weeks.





Asked why he had let a 66-year-old woman become pregnant, Dr Marinescu said: "She was in the right condition to carry a pregnancy.''

There was no law in Romania stipulating a maximum age for artificial insemination, he said. He declined to comment on ethical questions regarding the pregnancy.

However, he said he was impressed by Mrs Iliescu's faith in God and her determination to have a child.

BLOODY DISGUSTING!! What possesses doctors to do such a thing?

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The menopause happens for very good reasons.................. to stop this happening............

Why?????????????????????????????

Who can benefit from this other than an unknown doctor getting a lot of publicity....

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Aren't we clever.

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There's something sickening about this story. I remember a few years ago there was a doctor In Italy who used to perform IVF on ladies in their 50's and had some success, and I thought that was unethical. Many women are now putting off having their children into their 40's. It is perfectly acceptable to have a baby now when you are in your early 40's, many of these are natural conceptions, natural being the operative word.
The risks of having complicated pregnancies do rise with age. I am currently wondering what kind of recovery this woman will have from her Caesarian Section, bearing in mind that this is a major operation and she now has a baby to look after. Another question I am asking is, who is going to look after this child when the mother inevitably dies of old age or age related problems. Chances are this will happen while this child is still relatively young. Does this woman have grown up children who will look after this little girl, and if so, what the hell was this Doctor doing providing fertility treatment for this woman. I think he should be struck off.

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This is apparently her only child and she is a single parent. No doubt the child will end up in an orphanage before long. The baby didn't have a normal birth anyway being 6 weeks premature and needed help with breathing at first.

I'm sure you are more familiar with problems relating to premature babies Lettie.

This 66 year old woman currently recovering from a major operation will be bringing up a child with possible health problems and further difficulties. Will she be able to cope? I find it hard to believe that she will.

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I highly doubt that this woman will cope for very long. The baby's breathing difficulties could range from very serious respiratory distress syndrome which is life threatening to very mild grunting at 34 weeks gestation. The difficulties wouldn't have been helped by the Caesarian, as lung fluid will not have been squeezed out of the baby's lungs during the birth. Babies are born vaginally for a reason. This baby is likely to be difficult to feed, as the suck reflex isn't as well developed at this gestation and of course with any prem baby there is an infection risk. The Section was probably performed because it was a twin pregnancy and they were probably lying in difficult to deliver positions. There is always a risk of having one live baby and one dead baby with twins. Unfortunately when one twin dies, especially when they are out of the first trimester it is not wise to leave it in there, as that can cause problems too. The third baby which died at a very early gestation wouldn't have caused a problem.
This woman will be at greater risk of post op complications due to her age. She is a definite embolism risk. Embolism is the main cause of death for pregnant and post natal women in the UK according to the latest figures in the document Why Women Die. I can't help but think that this woman probably has some psychological problems to actually want to do this in the first place, and don't even get me started on the irresponsible dolt of a so-called doctor.

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I think its disgraceful, and she is one selfish woman. She seems to have no regard for the child's future.:(

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Selfish....Yes, but I bet that she is also a very wealthy woman:(

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How GROSS is that?????? She is one selfish OLD woman.

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I think it would have been slightly better if it had been all naturally done - accidents happen, after all.

The part that is strange is that various doctors gave her drugs to firstly reverse the effects of the menopause, and secondly for fertility treatment.

As Simon has already stated, the menopause happens for a reason.

What was the motivation for either party? If it was for money, there are far easier ways to obtain money instead of having children willy nilly.

If it was because she wanted children, well, she should have thought of that when she was in a position to be able to do so, and look after the child at least until she is ready to leave home and look after herself.

The life expectancy of females in Romania is a little over 73, so her daughter will be 7 if she lives to this age. I very much doubt that there are any family to look after this child - no one probably knows who the father is, and there are no siblings to take of her either.

So yes, it would seem that she is very selfish, and she is far too old to be looking after a newborn baby.

The myth of sitting in a rocking chair by the fire with the baby in your arms is a myth that will very soon be dispelled when she is woken several times in the night by a baby that wants feeding, nappy changing or winding.

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She would have been a lot better off getting herself a pet at her age, a lot less hassle.I just can not believe that she would have wanted a child at such an old age. I have to feel very sorry for the child being brought up by someone old enough to be her great Grandma.

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The father was a sperm donor so wouldn't have any responsibility anyway. She isn't even the biological mother. This was IVF by donor of both egg and sperm - it's not as if she has even given birth to a child connected to her bloodline if you know what I mean. I doubt she would have been permitted to adopt one of the numerous orphans in her country and yet all she is now doing is adding to the burden in the future.

Selfish doesn't even begin to describe her. I hope the medical profession will be keeping an eye on how she copes, for the sake of the child. It's bad enough those sleepless nights etc when you are younger but at her age I just can't image how she will manage.

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This thread seems to be universally condemning the lady(?) concerned.
Sorry, but I agree with you all!!
However, having been married for almost 40 yrs, now being the proud
head of a family consisting of two daughters, three grandchildren, I've got to say, that, had such medical wizardry been available in our day, we very well may have gone along the same route.
You see, we could not carry a child full term. So, we went for the only alternative, in those days.... adoption.
We've fought the stigmas that some people seem to cast on our children, & we have all come through it as better persons. My daughters are, I feel, more well-balanced than any of our contemporaries. They have never had the problems that beset so many of their 'friends'.
We now have three absolutely beautiful grandchildren, aged from 11yrs down to 6weeks, & thank God every day for our blessings.
So, in a way, I can understand why this lady wanted a child so much, but, I cannot accept why she left it so late!
If she wanted a child so much, surely adopting one of the many 'unwanted' children in her country would have fulfilled her so-called 'maternal' needs? She could, assuming her apparant wealth, have done this many years ago, ensuring that her adopted child(ren) would be well looked after, had the inevitable happened.
I think that, reading between the lines, she is a vulnerable person that has been taken advantage of by a 'high flying' quack doctor, out to make a name for himself, at her expense.
Don't want to appear controversial, but look forward to other member's reactions.

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I have to agree about the quack. I think that he has been totally unethical in bringing this woman out of menopause in order to conceive. I don't think this woman is a wealthy idiot though. I thought she was some sort of professor. There is a rough age limit to IVF in this country and I'm sure that many doctors here have the ethics to refuse IVF requests from women who are considered to be too old. There are always doctors and scientists who will try procedures wondering if they will work, but this wouldn't have got ethical approval here.

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I find it quite appalling that people should cast stigmas on adopted children. I have friends who, unable to have natural born children, have adopted three. Their children always knew they were adopted and it was explained to them that they were chosen specially. The fact of their adoption has always been openly discussed amongst friends whenever the subject was valid and so it was never a "discovery" for anyone. In fact we knew before they adopted that they were going through the process. I never think of the children as anything other than theirs and do not see them in any different way.

I can understand what you're saying KiTChener about the desire to have a child and how you would have gone for IVF if it had been available. Maybe not carrying a child to full term would have involved something other than the sort of treatment this woman had. However, you did say that you'd have done it sooner rather than later and I think this is what has shocked most people. This woman was 57 and past the menopause when she began treatment and as Lettie says no doctor in this country would have condoned that.

I know what the desire to have a child feels like because for a long time I didn't think I would have any but then ended up with two, both quite naturally but it did make me older than I would have wanted to be when they were born, unfortunately that was not by choice.

If she doesn't have money who paid for all the treatment and as she is past working age now how is she going to support a child on her own if she doesn't have the wherewithalls? I wonder if we'll hear any more of the story as time goes on.

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I very much doubt it Willow - the fact that she is the oldest mother is the bit that gets the news, not the facts about feeding, nappy changing, etc

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If you could not carry achild to full term kiTCHener, then maybe IVF would not have been the treatment of choice...... there may however been other methods to help you achieve a natural family of your own....... but I am sure you would not have waited until this womans age to seek treatment. This woman has had a successful career...... which she CHOSE over motherhood and after the menopause decided that she would have liked to experience being a mother. The blame for this mess must lie equally with the Doctor and the mother. I think it is a very sad situation.......there is a child who is going to have a mother that will not live to see her child reach maturity.

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Yes I'd have more sympathy for her if she had started to think of having a child when she was young enough to possibly conceive naturally, then finding she couldn't perhaps she may have sought help.

Maybe these days there are ways to help a person carry a child through the full term of the pregnancy. I've heard of women being kept in hospital and monitored throughout. That would be exhausting/wearying but probably worth it if the result was a success.

It sounds like you have a very well balanced family KiTChener, that many people would be proud of. To you and your wife your daughters are surely every bit your daughters and have made you proud grandparents.

I would normally never criticise anyone's family situation as we never know the reasons behind it (very young single parents, older mothers etc) but in this woman's case it is just too extreme.

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"The Mail on Sunday" has given an update on this story one week after the birth.

The Mother Adriana is not particularly wealthy and her flat is described as "dingy"

Baby Eliza Maria Bogdana is still lying in an incubater at the hospital and the only visitors are press photographers.....

Mum is one floor below and she admits "I can't go up there without a wheelchair and besides, I am afraid to hold her. I feel dizzy and she is so fragile. I will wait until we are both ready."

Poor kid, her life is already mapped out for her, Mum wants her to be brought up in the same way and same attitudes as herself. It will happen because she found the time (between holding interviews) to look up her daughters horoscope....

Mum was married in 1958 and the marriage failed just 4 years later and since then has remained chaste turning to religion instead.

She hopes to go back to her career as a university lecturer within the month and plans to leave baby Eliza with a hired nanny that is 61 and in desperate need of a hip transplant.

Dr. Bogdan Marinesca (baby Eliza has taken on the female equivelent of Bogdan as a surname) will not be charging for his services as he has a "live" advertisement for his IVF clinic which also specialises in "restoring virginities" to young gypsy girls at $100-00 (£50-00) per time (a small fortune in Romania)

I am speechless..........................

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I am a father, and I wanted to hold my children as soon as they were born, so I am at a loss to understand why she would not want to hold her either.

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This whole sorry mess is made even sicker by the fact that this idiot woman apparently had at least two terminations (abortions) during her reproductive life, presumably because it was an inconvenient time.

I wish very much that I had met my partner at a time when we could have had children, but it was too late for us, and we have accepted that - and we are in a comfortable position to bring up a child, with other family around us. You cannot have everything - unfortunately that is what people seem to want today, if you want a gay lifestyle - the hell, pay somebody to have a baby for you, and then you can bring it up as "your own". If you want your career and then feel that you have missed out - no problem, some lunatic will sort it out for you. Never mind the child that results from these processes - you can't tell me that in either case that child will have a normal upbringing.

The lunatics have definitely taken over the asylum.

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Somehow society in general seems to have its priorities mixed up....... babies are disposable if it is inconvenient to have them, but can be 'bought' if you are old and have the money. I wonder if the doctor who helped this woman achieve her dream will take care of this child when old age and death overtake this selfish woman?
And if having a baby were such a dream, why does she not want to hold her dream?????

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The doctor who did this has only done it for the money and fame. I know that he has done her for free, but the publicity will probably earn him many referrals from couples wanting IVF. He will therefore reap the monetary rewards from them. He obviously has no morals and is unfit to call himself a doctor.

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Interesting thread, this....but what about the worlds Oldest Dad? We often read about some old boy - usually a celebrity of some sort - who becomes a father at 70 or even 80, with a wife 40 years or so younger. Is'nt it a bit sexist to go on about this old trout when some old boy has taken on paternal responsibilites when he should be dozing away in front of the fire with his carpet slippers and pipe. Hows he going to play footy with his son/daughter?

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The difference there is that the mother is usually young and conceives naturally. Nature is such that a man is able to father a child in his later years. In this woman's case perhaps if there was a younger husband around it might not seem so bad. (I'm not getting into the ins and outs of age differences in marriage.) But she hasn't got any husband or indeed any other family as far as we are told. The younger mothers in your illustration Tealeaf will be able to look after their children. This woman is on her own.

Age isn't necessarily the only thing which can prevent a father from playing football with his son or daughter. What about a disabled parent? Should they be discouraged from having children?

Not all old fogies settle for the carpet slipper and pipe either. Some are very active. I know one who seems to have more energy for playing with young children than the average Dad after a hard days work.

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That's all very well, but I think there are issues about men of the same/similar age to this woman.

Or are you implying that a father is not important to a child? I know that there are a lot of single parent families out there (I come from one myself), but I am of the opinion that both parents are equally important, for different reasons.

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So are you saying the old dear won't be able to play footy with her kid, yet an old boy of the same age can? I don't understand the logic here....mind, I've never been able to understand women's logic, anyway.

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Oh no, I'm very much of the opinion that a father is important, sadly many people today don't seem to think so and the single mothers who see nothing wrong with using a "relationship" (I use that term loosely) in order to create a child have got their wires crossed just a little. I know of one father who has been excluded from all contact with his daughter. He knows she is his daughter and she knows he is her Dad but the mother and grandmother refuse to permit any contact.

I'm just using the facts of nature which are that a woman's ability to reproduce ceases at a certain age (for some this is earlier than others) whereas a man is capable of being a father much later in life.

I have friends where there is a fairly large age gap between the mother and the father. They have a large happy family. The father (no slippers and pipe for him) plays a very active role in his children's upbringing.

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No, my point about this woman is that she is on her own. The men you refer to aren't. An elderly man on his own trying to bring up a child would probably concern me just as much as she does but he wouldn't have "conceived" the child and it's not a very likely scenario.

I doubt very much that she'll be able to play football or anything else with her daughter by the looks of her. Lets hope she improves and doesn't suffer too much longer from this dizzyness.

The Dad I know who I mentioned in the previous post does get involved in his children's lives. He plays with the younger ones and acts as chaufeur and general dogsbody for the older ones. ;)

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Is'nt there a law against this sort of thing?

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There is, but it seems that it is not enforced.

That's why people dress up as Batman and climb up Buckingham Palace

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Plus, if you don't name the father you get all sorts of extra monetary benefits.:rolleyes:

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Why??????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????/

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Not that I am aware of.

If you claim benefits (ie income support) your details get passed to the CSA who try and get money from the father, as their thinking is why pay income support when the father can pay instead.

In terms of benefits with absent fathers you get the income support and extra bits for the children, on top of the child benefit that all parents get (which is weird, isn't it!), plus a single parent allowance of about a fiver per week (unless its increased by now).

Oh, and don't forget satellite tv!!! ;)

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If you don't name/know the father you don't have to account for his earnings, which means you get more in benefits. Theres the Sure Start Maternity Grant of £500 for starters, plus all of the crap that a lot of organisations do is geared towards single mothers.
Plus you can screw extra money from the supposed father on top of your benefits.:(

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Seems quite a lucrative pursuit this motherhood lark.......me, I would prefer work anyday!

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Oh it's very lucrative. Which is why the same people come back again and again pregnant, all different dads, and these women are never infertile. The law has recently changed regarding fathers. It used to be that the father had no legal rights to make decisions about his child ie immunisations etc if he and the mother were unmarried, even if his name was on the birth certificate. That has now changed or is in the process of changing. A father whos name is not on the birth certificate would legally not be able to make those decisions regarding his child. This means that he could not consent to medical treatment for the child ie, decide whether or not to let the child have MMR vaccine for example. He would have no legal say in the matter.

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Yep, if you have no morals it can be very lucrative.:mad:

My partner and I worked out we would actually be better off financially if we separated and I didn't work. I find it quite stupid - there seems to be no incentive to get off your arse and work, especially when you can just churn out babies like theres no tomorrow.

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When you say "more in benefits" what you mean is a transfer payment by taxpayers such as myself to fund the recipients' (single mothers, one or multiple kids) lifestyle. The offspring of that single mother - male or female - will have a far higher probability of involvement in crime and social disorder and will invariably end up unmarried with their own multi-fathered offspring. And so the cycle continues.

Should'nt we cease this nonsense, now?

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It seems that some women see their role in life as perpetuators of the species, while you and I, the payer of taxes, support the lifestyle to which WE could easily become accustomed. Something not quite right there!

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I fail to see why we have to fund some slappers lifestyle of dumping the kids on her mother at the weekend, going out, getting drunk and getting laid, plus the inevitable pregnancy. They are the ones having all the "fun", but we, the taxpayers are the ones getting screwed.:rolleyes:

If you can't afford kids, don't have them. I have enough to fork out suporting my own family, without suporting some womans "right" to have five kids at the states expense. And THEN they bleat on that bringing up kids is a full time job and they shouldn't be made to work.:mad:

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When I was working at the social security office there was a member of the female species who had a 4 month old baby, and was already pregnant with another one. She already had 1 or 2 others in addition to those I have already mentioned.

While working there I became a very cynical person.

Perhaps we should work in the same way as America does - benefits for 6 months, and then you're on your own.

Think of the money the country could save and spend on more worthwhile causes, like improved public transport, roads, health service, schools. The list goes on and on.

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