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- July 4, 2008
70-year-old Gives Birth to Twins
How old is too old to give birth? I, personally, believe once you’ve reached 50-years-old you should not be thinking about having a baby. Besides, if you’ve spent 18 years raising children, don’t you think it’s time to give yourself and your husband a much needed break?
Well, that’s obviously not the case with 70-year-old Omkari Panwar. She has reportedly given birth to twins in the Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. The wife of a retired farmer had a boy and girl by emergency caesarean section on June 27th.
SHOCKING!
Omkari already has two adult daughters and five grandchildren. She underwent in vitro fertilization treatment to produce a male family heir. If Omkari can prove her age, she’d become the oldest woman ever to give birth.
Mrs Panwar, who has no birth certificate, uses the date of India’s independence in 1947 to gauge her age. She remembers being nine when the British left India – meaning she is now 70.
Her husband, Charan Singh Panwar, 77, mortgaged his land, sold his buffalos, spent his life savings and took out a credit card loan to finance the treatment.
The boy and girl each weighed 2 pounds when they were delivered a month early by Cesarean section. Doctors at Jaswant Roy Specialty Hospital said the twins are expected to survive.
I have a few questions:
1) What doctor would agree to vitro fertilization on this poor old woman? How greedy can this doctor really be? Was he American?
2) Isn’t it impossible to give birth once you’re post menopausal?
3) Who will take care of these children in a couple of years? Can this elderly couple take care of them NOW?
One Response to “70-year-old Gives Birth to Twins”
I would not tell anyone they were too old to have a baby. My Mom had my two youngest brothers after the doctor thought she was too old, in her 40′s. And many grandmothers are raising their grandkids as their own. I know a 93 year-old who does a great job of taking care of herself, and 85 year-old still enjoying building her business.
But to have in vitro fertilization at 70? To produce a male heir?
My first reaction was heir to what? Sold their buffalos, mortgaged their land, spend their life savings, took out a credit card loan. So what will the heir inherit? The credit card loan?
What about their daughters? Why couldn’t they inherit?
Or the twin girl, who was only born because they wanted to have a son. Why are their now 3 daughters second rate citizens?
I understand that in some cultures, a male heir is very important. Yet they should teach respect for women.
By Heidi Caswell on Jul 5, 2008