70-Year-Old Woman Gives Birth
By LISA BELKIN
travelIllustration by Barry Falls
Rajo Devi became the oldest woman in recorded history to ever give birth on November 28, when the 70-year-old delivered a baby girl in India.
Married for 50 years, she had been trying, without success, to have a child for much of that time, until she entered menopause (which was 20 years ago). The Hindustan Times, announcing the birth yesterday, quotes her as saying : “We longed for a child all these years and now we are very happy to have one.”
The baby was conceived through the use of a donor egg that was injected with Ms. Devi’s 72-year-old husband’s sperm. And she seems to be a preemie, since the embryo transfer took place on April 18, according to newspaper reports, and she was born seven months later.
I explored the topic of the shifting boundaries of fertility in a New York Times Magazine article more than a decade ago. It was assigned after the record was broken for the first time, and a 63-year-old gave birth. An editor called and asked me to find some more 60-somethings who were having babies and write a cover story about them.
There were no others to be found, because most sexagenarians aren’t all that interested in giving birth. But I did profile a 55-year-old, who was post-menopausal and breaking the laws of nature in order to have her first child. I started out seeing hers as a science story and came away thinking of it as simply a sad story — the darker edge of the sharp scientific sword. Just because a technology exists, does not necessarily mean it should be used.
The record age for giving birth has inched up over the years (well, it’s the record if you don’t count Sarah and Abraham in the Bible) passing through the sixth decade — from 62 to 66 to 67 — an occasional woman at a time. Ms. Devi’s newborn can be called a triumph of science over infertility, but is this really a triumph? Where does the yearning to be a parent become selfish disregard for the life of the child being created? A child whose parents will almost definitely not see her into adulthood?
How old is too old to have a baby?
--Previous Message--
: Daphne-Sophie said...
: Carissimo Signore, I forgot to mention these
: important things: My mother is Jewish and my
: real father was a nobleman with rh negative
: from Transylvania who died before I was
: born. I call father, the one who raised me,
: as it is normal to be. I am very proud of my
: origins and my blood type. And I think with
: this B rh negative I'm more special than
: anyone else. Not just because it is a very
: rare blood type. I am especially proud that
: I carry this wonderful CCR5 delta 32
: mutation. A good specialist in genetics said
: to me recently that this blood type of mine
: does not originate on this planet. Is the
: blood of the Watchers - Nephilim. Absolutely
: all doctors, remain speechless when they
: hear of my blood type. They all looked at me
: shocked... as you look at an alien. I
: noticed that I have the power to heal
: diseases of the people, and to regenerate
: the bodies destroyed by aging process. I get
: very happy when these miracles happen to
: those who are around me for a while. The
: surprise and happiness on their faces, does
: not compare to anything. I think this is a
: gift from God. I am now 35 years old and
: still look like a teenager of 17-18 years.
: In very good shape and health. Only to God
: should I thank for this. I inherit the best
: genes from my noble ancestors. Cordiali
: saluti from Romania !!
: I am from Prahova Valley near the Carpathian
: Mountains - Romania, born in the year of
: Fire Dragon. And have this noble and rare
: blood type B Rh negative. But both parents
: are Rh positive. I'm blonde with blue eyes
: and very white skin. Never become tanned.
: All my life I felt different from the rest.
: I have often physic dreams, empathetic
: illnesses, physic abilities and frequent
: alien contacts. No, I do not want to talk
: about it right now !! Since I was a litlle
: girl I discovered that I'm psychic and have
: this strange sense of not belonging to the
: human race. I have to mention that I found
: recently, doing extensive research, that I'm
: a descendant of Vlad the Impaler.
: I am now 35 years old and still look like a
: teenager of 17-18 years. In very good shape
: and health.
: 70-Year-Old Woman Gives Birth
: Abstract
: Snell dwarf mice have multiple hormonal
: deficits, but the way in which these
: deficits postpone aging are still uncertain.
: In this study, Snell dwarf mice received 11
: weeks of growth hormone and thyroxine
: injections that increased their weight by
: approximately 45%, although they remained
: much smaller than controls. The hormone
: treatment also restored fertility to male
: dwarf mice. Despite these effects on growth
: and maturation, the hormone treatments did
: not diminish life span or lower the
: resistance of dwarf mice to cataracts and
: kidney disease. Administration of thyroxine
: in food throughout adult life did diminish
: longevity of Snell dwarf mice, although
: these mice remain longer lived than control
: animals. These results show that a 45%
: increase in body size does not impair
: longevity or disease resistance for dwarf
: mice of either sex, and that the exceptional
: longevity of Snell dwarf mice does not, at
: least for males, depend on prepubertal
: immaturity.
:
: Dracula family has the Dwarfism of Sindh or
: GHRH-R or Growth Hormone Release Hormone
: Receptor gene or Pituitary Dwarfism with
: normal fertility, long life or longevity and
: resistant to disease like Cancer and
: Viruses. Daphne-Sophie Romania with B- Blood
: type and related to Dracula family has this
: GHRH-R genes from her Parsi ancestor the
: came from Pars Persia to Deval in Karachi in
: Sindh. This where the gene is found in both
: Parsis and Indian from Karachi in Sindh. I
: have because I am Dracula youthful family
: his family came from Karachi via Pars in
: Parsi from the Sassanian Noble with Jewish
: Exilarch bloodline that fled to Deval or
: Karachi 714.A.D. This is why Dracula
: mother/wife Cneajna Bathory or Elzibeta of
: Transylvania had child with son Dracula at
: the age of 72 before she committed Suicide
: because genetically about 40 years rather
: than 72 because like snell mice ages slowly
: then other normal mice. We are the opposite
: of Progeria who kids who age very rapidly.
: We age very, very slowly and we are supposed
: be fertile for very long time and resistant
: to disease just like a Snell mice; hence
: Immortalty of the Vampire, you Dracula
: mother who both J1b haplotype (longevity)and
: GHRH-R(longevity, fertility and resistant
: Disease like Cancer ) and B R negative blood
: type ( resistant to Disease like cancer and
: HIV; Hence Immortal Vampire .
:
: fertility but remain long lived and disease
: resistant.
:
:
:
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