More and more women are having kids later in life these days, but somehow I doubt most of us consider "later in life" to be anything past our forties.
But a woman in Brazil named Antonia Leticia Rovati Asti must have really, really wanted to become a mother, because the 61-year-old just gave birth to twins.
Yes, I said she's 61 and she just delivered not one, but two babies -- who are her first and only children. And while every baby is a miracle and a blessing -- it's not like Antonia just happened to become pregnant in her sixties by chance.
She had the help of an "assisted reproduction specialist", Dr. Orlando de Castro Neto, who says his only condition for helping women conceive is for them to "have a uterus."
Huh. That's all well and good, but isn't there kind of a difference between a 61-year-old uterus and a 31 or 41-year-old uterus?
The doctor used Antonia's 10-year-old frozen embryos, which had been fertilized with her husband's sperm, in order to fulfill her dream of becoming a parent.
I mean, I can totally understand how this woman woke up one day and thought, "Gee, now that I'm over 60, it's probably time I went ahead and had kids before it's too late."
The desire to be a mom isn't one that's easily fought off, but somehow I doubt Antonia has any idea exactly what she's gotten herself into, especially since she's now going to be faced with the challenge of taking care of twins. One baby was tough enough for me in my late twenties, so I can't even begin to imagine trying to handle two -- unless they're my grandchildren and I'm babysitting for the weekend.
And it sounds like her husband doesn't quite know what to expect either. Of the babies' birth, he said, "I will love these children very much and work hard to put food in their mouths." (Um, there's a little more to it than that.)
Hopefully this couple was responsible enough to realize they aren't exactly spring chickens anymore, and have someone in place to take care of these babies in the event that their health starts to deteriorate -- or worse.
And hopefully having all those years of full nights of sleep is more than enough to make up for the restless nights they're going to have with two babies going forward.
Do you think this couple was irresponsible to have kids at their age?
Image via katerha/Flickr
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Comments 88
In my opinion, yes, it is very irresposible to have a child/childre at that age. I'm sure there are certain women at that age who are perfectly healthy and have the finances they need to support the child even after the parents death but realistically any normal person would be unable to give that child everything it needs; so getting pregnant at that advanced age is selfish.
No, I don't think it was irresponsible and it's really no one else's business but the family's...right? And anyway, people are living into their late 80's these days.
oh wow!!! that 61 year old ....... will be lucky to be around when those kids are 20
This seems selfish to me also. The father said that he "will do his best to put food in their mouths" does this mean that they may also be not financially sound? IF so, it seems doubly selfish to create two lives that need to be well taken care of.
I'm proud the father said he will be sure to love and take care of his children and to make sure he will be able to provide food. Actually those two things are the most important.
I'm sad for the children who will likely not have their mother for very long. It makes me sad to think of any child growing into adulthood without her parents. Obviously, children lose their parents in untimely ways all the time, but it's so much more likely when your mom is 61 at birth! I think the saving grace here is that they are twins, and they will have each other.