60-year-old Calgary mother welcomes twins

[dragon wench]

[url="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/02/04/cgy-twins-60yearold-mother.html?ref=rss"]60-year-old Calgary mother welcomes twins[/url]

Ranjit Hayer tried for decades to have a child, enduring multiple miscarriages, surgery, even the trauma of being robbed by a fertility doctor. Finally, after a successful IVF treatment, the Calgary woman gave birth to twins — at age 60.

She is believed to be among the oldest Canadian women to give birth.

Hayer's boys were delivered seven weeks prematurely by C-section at Calgary's Foothills Hospital on Tuesday morning, CBC Radio's The Current reported Thursday. The mother is recovering in intensive care, while the twins are in the neo-natal intensive care unit.

One of the babies is breathing with the help of special equipment, while the other boy is in the special care unit. Doctors say both are doing well. The twins will be kept in hospital until they reach a specified weight and can breathe on their own.

Hayer's case — especially her age — has raised many ethical questions about how far to push the frontiers of medical science, even from the Calgary specialist who helped her.

"We can do so much but the question is, should we do it just because we can do it?" said obstetrician Dr. Colin Birch, who was excited by the challenge but says he has yet to reconcile the social implications.

"It all sounds very fine when this age group — isn't it fantastic what medical technology can do, how we're stretching the boundaries and everything else — but there's so much more involved in this. It's not just having the babies and being born," he told CBC.

"There's not just one generation gap here, there's two generation gaps. They're really what would be like the age of grandparents."

Hayer, who is originally from India, tried for years to get pregnant with her husband, but she miscarried three times.

After becoming a permanent resident in Canada, an obstetrician gynecologist diagnosed a problem with Ranjit's womb and recommended surgery. She had the surgery in Calgary but she still couldn't conceive.
Woman got pregnant through fertility treatment in India

About 10 years ago, the couple paid a doctor in India for in vitro fertilization, but he took off with their money.

The couple spent years working and saving up their money in Canada. After being turned down for IVF in this country because of her age, Hayer returned to India for the treatment using donor eggs last year — and got pregnant with triplets.

"I thought it was a joke because the referral said 60-year-old patient with triplets, and I thought one of my colleagues or somebody's just playing jokes with me or up to mischief and then actually the patient turned up in my office," recalled Birch.

One of Hayer's embryos had to be terminated for medical reasons and the pregnancy with twins left her with high blood pressure and diabetes.

She also had a condition called placenta previa — where the placenta is attached to the bottom of the uterus and covers part or all of the cervix and can cause severe bleeding. Hayer spent the last four weeks in hospital so doctors could deliver the babies at a moment's notice if necessary.

Hayer began to hemorrhage this week so Birch performed an emergency C-section to deliver the twins. The bleeding was so severe he had to take out the woman's uterus. Hayer was admitted to the intensive care unit, where she required blood transfusions to stabilize her condition.

According to doctors, Hayer said she's just happy she gets to be a mother. She said she has enough family support to help through what might be a tough time.

"I couldn't imagine if I was 65 having two five-year-olds running around crazily. The energy to do that is incredible," said Birch.

I'm all for the advance of medical science... but... this seems a little excessive to me...

[Xandax]

I pity the children.
Some people really do not think about the consequence of their actions.

[Moonbiter]

Well, men do this all the time. I agree with you, Xan, it's completely thoughtless.

[Crenshinibon]

While I guess I'm happy for her, that after all this time she was finally able to have kids, I agree with Xandax. First of all, at such an age, I doubt the woman could be an active parent and even then, through most of their childhood, even if she lives, her condition due to aging might render her unable to take care of the kids.

And that's putting financial issues aside.

[dragon wench]

Agreed... it's totally thoughtless and irresponsible. Assuming this woman even lives as long, she'll be 80 when those kids are 20..

Or imagine when they bring their friends home... "No, this is my mother not my grandmother."

The difficulty is that a lot of people are possessed by the idea that they absolutely must have children, no matter the cost, and they don't think it through at all. In my view, no matter who you are, and no matter your age, you should consider the implications of bringing children into your life very carefully, not go rushing into it blindly.

[Claudius]

Sounds like an obsession. After all having a baby is the golden white picket choice, right?

[Crenshinibon]

I don't know if I'd call this an obsession as a good number females, and some males, decide ahead of time that they want kids.

Yes, she either didn't think this through or doesn't care about the future, but, eh, must be the primitive brain taking control.

Also, I believe that having kids after forty or so puts them (the kids) at risk of having disorders and diseases.

[Tamerlane]

The couple were a lost cause, wanting IVF at 50?

I can picture the 10 year olds living with relatives whilst their 70 year old mother is placed into an aged care facility.

That is an awful life to place on those youngsters...

[C Elegans]

The developments in fertility medicine has unfortunately brought the possibility for people at almost all ages, in all conditions, to breed. In the Western world, the trend has been older and older parents for a long time now. Thanks to IVF and egg donation, the possibility to conceive has now been pushed outside of the biological fertility range. This has risen a variety of ethical questions related to both the women's and the future child's health, so most reproduction clinics worldwide have an age limit based on medical considerations. However, in some countries like the US and India, there is legal room for private clinics who can sell their unserious services to people who are prepared to pay for it. I believe that the first case of assisted reproduction in a woman who was so old so her age clearly was an ethical problem, was back in 1994 when the infamous Dr Severino Antinori made it possible for a 63-year old woman to have a baby. A couple of years ago, a 70-year old woman in India had a baby. We can just hope that the children were healthy, the fathers were young and the rest of the family very supportive.

Old parental age poses a series of problems. The most evident is perhaps that old age means increased risk of loosing health and die when the child still needs its parents. In a core-family based society like the Western world, we can definitely conclude that the mother and the father are equally important to the child, and that it is a severe trauma for a young, still not independent child, to loose a parent. It is not something we should work for increasing the risk of. However, apart from the increased risk of the parents falling ill and/or dying, old parental age is also associated with increased risk for health problems in the child. High maternal as well as paternal age is associated with increased risk for chromosomal abnormalities and developmental disorders. Furthermore, high maternal age is associated with specific pregnancy related health risks for the mother, that in turn also lead to risks for the child. Around age 46-47, ie a few years before the average age for the menopause, the risk for developing preeclamsia/eclampsia, diabetes, placental abruption and increase steeply. This and other factors results in a multifold increased risk for growth inhibition and insufficient supply of oxygen for the baby.

My opionion is simply that people should learn to accept that they cannot have everything they want. Whereas I do understand that the individual longing for a child may be very strong, I also think there is no defense whatsoever for such an irresponsible view of a child's life. I also think there is no defence whatsoever for the clinics who perform the treatments and the governments that allow it.

[FireLighter]

She's probably going to be a better parent then a good 60% of the younger parents out there. And if she is, I say I'm all for it. She's got family support so I really don't think it's as big of an outrage as people are making it out to be. I mean, it's not like she just decided one day to have kids, she's been trying for decades and was unable to because of a medical condition, do you really think it's your right to question whether or not she should be a parent? The poor woman went through hell for the joy of procreation, and I say good luck to her.

[LeoStarDragon1]

Hello, All!

Hm. I had an older brother, by 2 years, that died as an infant in his first year, so I wasn't even born yet. I was 4 and my younger brother was 2, when our mother and unborn sister were killed by a horse trailer. Dad was in the hospital for awhile, so it was his parents that then took over raising us. Dad was in the USAF at the time, so once he recovered, we didn't see him that much in comparison. My brother and I somehow survived being raised by our paternal grandparents, while being semi-orphaned.

I can remember my mother, and sometimes I wonder what it might have been like had she survived as well, or she was our last parent instead of Dad.

I don't know my brother's point of view on the subject, but the mental trauma and emotional trauma, didn't take as long to recover from as the physical traumas did. The phrase, "Time heals all wounds." would seem to apply to us, minus the scar tissues.

Grandma died wanting to see great grandchildren. Dad wants some grandchildren.

My brother and I would want the family name and/or bloodline to continue. Hell, the problem is finding volunteers to mother our children though. Hell if we're going to let age stop us once we find those volunteers! We want children! Preferably the old-fashioned way, by getting a date first, and then proceeding from there in the natural order. Argh!

[jklinders]

Well I was going to post a longish response to this article, but C Elegans already hit all my points and put them far better than I could have. I just hope the parents were not so selfish that they have not thought about what will happen to the kids when they can no longer support them. Depressing really.

[Tower_Master]

Whereas I do understand that the individual longing for a child may be very strong, I also think there is no defense whatsoever for such an irresponsible view of a child's life.

I couldn't agree with you more. The lack of foresight displayed is absolutely mind-boggling; this is not merely a question of self-inflicted repercussions, but as several have said, the ethical ramifications of the life path these children have been placed upon

Moreover, the cultural stance that seems to belittle the raising of adopted children seems absolutely preposterous to me. I can empathize to some degree with a person's (perhaps misguided) conception that they need to be a parent to live a complete, fulfilling life, but if normal reproduction fails to work after a certain point, I fail to see how the love of adoptive parents, raising a child in need of a good home and loving family, is somehow invalidated by a lack of biological ties.

[dragon wench]

I fail to see how the love of adoptive parents, raising a child in need of a good home and loving family, is somehow invalidated by a lack of biological ties.

I concur. I can't help but wonder if some of the insistence on having one's own biological child isn't partly out of a desire to experience pregnancy and give birth? Having experienced it myself, I can say that it is like nothing else...
But, I am in no way at all trying to justify the totally reckless and irresponsible decisions made by Hayer and her doctors... Basically, I'm just trying to understand the mindset.
The reality is that some people cannot, for whatever reason, have children. I know perhaps this sounds callous of me, but my feeling is that they need to accept it and move on, and if they really do want to have a family.. it is far more ethical to adopt a child who truly needs a nurturing home, than it is to push medical science to its utmost limits just because you can. This is not to say I don't feel for people who want children but can't have them, I do... But, going through steps like this... it boggles the mind.

[LeoStarDragon1]

"Boggles the Mind"?!

....it boggles the mind.

(Ahem! Begins doing impression of "Reverend Jim" from "TAXI")

"Dragon Wench, uh, uh, if you don't like 'Boggle', there are other games. Have you tried 'Jacks' or 'Jenga'? Maybe that will help?" :laugh: