older moms, old moms, age limits for ivf

No mom knows when her time is up

The world's oldest mom died this week, leaving her two-year-old twin boys parent-less. Maria del Carmen Bousada, a 69-year-old Spanish woman who lied to a California fertility clinic about her age so she could receive infertility treatments, gave birth to her sons when she was 66. According to the Guiness Book of World Records she was the world's oldest woman to give birth at the time.

When her true age became known, Bousada, who sold her home to pay for the infertility treatments, pointed to her mother's longevity to point out that she would be around for her kids—her mom died at age 101.

But shortly after she gave birth, Bousada found a tumor, and last November she revealed that she had stomach cancer. She said she didn't regret having kids late in life and that her sons would be well-cared for no matter what happened to her. She told a Spanish T.V. station, "I hope God does not—I want to hang on at least until they are 18." But, she added, the boys would always have their godfather who is their custodian.

Vicken Sahakian, M.D., director of the clinic Bousada used, said she lied about her birth date (she said she was 55), and when he learned of her deception he said, "I figured something might happen and wind up being a disaster for these kids, and unfortunately I was right. It's easy for women to lie to their doctors. We don't ask for passports. When is the last time you went to a doctor and he asked you for a birth certificate? We're not detectives here."

Do you think fertility clinics should require proof of age of its clients?