Friday July 6, 2002 Yahoo.com

61-Year-Old Woman Gives Birth to Son in California

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A 61-year-old woman gave birth to a healthy baby boy in a San Francisco hospital Friday, becoming one of the oldest new mothers in the world.

``The baby and the mother are just fine. It is all absolutely peachy,'' said Glenda Carroll, a spokeswoman for Kaiser Permanente Medical Center.

Carroll said the parents had asked her not to reveal any further information and wished to avoid publicity.

``All I can say is there was a birth, the baby is fine, it is normal in all ways,'' Carroll said. She added that the woman was believed to be the oldest ever to give birth at the hospital.

Medical experts say it is extremely rare for women over 50 to deliver babies. In the last decade, at least two 63-year-old women have given birth, one in Italy and one in Southern California. Both cases sparked lively debate over the ethics of post-menopausal mothers.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), July 09, 2001

Answers

The father is hospitalized with post-coital and post-partum depression

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), July 09, 2001.

My personal nightmare is having to ask my grandchildren to babysit my baby while I visit baby's daddy in the nursing home.

-- helen (shudder@horror.nightmare), July 09, 2001.

You're funny, Helen.

My question is the following: why is the age of the mother anyone's business? If she/they has/have the money to get pregnant at an advanced age, she/they most likely have the money to raise the child, which is more than I can say for some of the furtile, but impoverished, youngsters who give birth before they are of legal drinking age.

-- (Weeble@wee.ble), July 09, 2001.

IF...they had planned this pregnancy, I think it's just a little bit selfish and careless because the parents will most likely not be around much longer. The child could lose both parents within the first ten years of his life. And if this was a surprise pregnancy, who woulda thought they would need to use protection at this stage of their lives. LOL kinda scary

-- i wonder (how old@sarah.was), July 09, 2001.

All these geriatric mommas are the direct result of viagra abuse in geriatric fathers-to-be.

-- helen (just@say.no), July 09, 2001.

Mommies that old put their babies down and forget where they left them. ;)

-- Pammy (pamela_sue57@hotmail.com), July 09, 2001.

Gol dang it Granny, that rubber thang broke agin.

-- (Jethro@Beverly.Hills), July 10, 2001.

My last child was a menapause baby, I had used rythem for decades, gotten pregnant when I wanted to and hadn't when I didn't want to. I wanted another child but was still recovering from the emotional pain of loosing my 5 month old son, and hadn't decided to become pregnant yet.

On Christmas eve I waited for my monthly migrain to hit, hoping I could get everything done before it did. As the hours passed I became suspicious and checked and found my brests were tender. I knew I was pregnant then, it was the best Christmas present I ever had. The next day I went to my doctor, peed in a cup and handed it to him telling him I was pregnant. I was 2 days late, the nurse said it was too soon to tell. The doctor came back grinning, telling me it was positive. He had delivered my son and gone through his illness with me and knew what it meant to me to have another one. She is almost 11 now and starting to hit puberty. I was 38 when I had her and I think that is the oldest I should have gone to have one and still be able to physically run after her. I considered having one more later but the idea of dying before the child hit adulthood stopped me, after all, I wanted the best life for my child and loosing a parent is difficult enough without it happening before adulthood. Personally I would have liked to have 15 kids, but my career prevented that, and giving up working to become a foster mother filled the need in me to parent as many children as I could give a life to. I remember every child I ever took into my home, from the ones who were with me for only a few days, to the two children who lived with me for 4 years.

If people want children in later years they should consider those who are desperatly in need of a home and the love they have to offer.

-- Cherri (jessam6@home.com), July 10, 2001.

Cherri, we've considered being foster parents for a long time. Recently our local child welfare office changed the rules, and now foster parents who must work outside jobs are allowed to use state-licensed daycare facilities. The reimbursement rate is so low here that it doesn't cover the cost of formula and baby food per day for an infant. Many of the infants are given formula through WIC.

There is a critical shortage of foster homes here. I have friends in the child welfare system and local law enforcement who tell me that nearly every drug bust in this area involves small children going into care. One of our older kids went to the local jail on a school-sponsored field trip, and all of the women inmates that day had several children apiece in foster care.

I have a specific question, if you don't mind. How does your young daughter handle having the kids in the family and then having them leave? We're not sure how our kids would react to that.

I wonder if orphanages are going to have to come back?

-- helen (mom@lpha.omega), July 10, 2001.

A woman I knew had married a man who fought in WWII. She was half his age. She tried desparately to become pregnant and finally did. The child is about 17 now, while the father is over 80. I've lost touch, so I don't know if he's alive. But she knew the consequences of their decision and accepted that her child would not have a father growing up.

As for me, I'm looking forward to life without kids. They are a lot of work and joy but retirement won't come fast enough for me. I can't imagine carring and delivering another child at 61! The older body is not made for such things! My bones couldn't take it.

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), July 11, 2001.