Posted July 8, 200619 yr Briton becomes new mother at 62 The parents have nicknamed their son JJ See the parents A 62-year-old child psychiatrist has become the oldest woman in Britain to have a baby. Patricia Rashbrook of Lewes, East Sussex, and her 6lb 10oz boy, nicknamed JJ, were said to be doing well by her husband John Farrant, 60. Critics said it was selfish to have a baby at their age, but they said they were confident of meeting his needs. They travelled to the former Soviet Union to get fertility treatment from Italian doctor Severino Antinori. 'Extremely healthy' Dr Rashbrook already has three grown-up children - aged 26, 22 and 18 - from her first marriage, but her husband has become a father for the first time. JJ was conceived through IVF using a donor egg and was the result of the couple's fifth and final attempt at the process, which cost £10,000. What is important in parenting is not how old you are, but whether you are meeting all the child's needs and we are very confident about doing that Dr Patricia Rashbrook Send us your comments Dr Peter Bowens Simkins, clinical director of the Cromwell IVF and Fertility Centre, in Swansea, said he and others in his profession considered the birth unacceptable. "I don't think that it is a responsible decision on her part and I don't think it is in the best interests of the child to have a mother who, when he or she is taking say GCSEs, the mother is going to be in her late 70s," he said. "As long as people have the freedom and movement there's nothing one can do to stop that, but in this country I think it's highly unlikely that we'll see it happening for many years." But Dr Rashbrook told the Daily Mail she felt "it was the right thing to do" and she did not feel too old to have a baby. She said: "We would not have gone ahead if we'd felt we would not be good enough parents. "We are both extremely healthy and I have always looked and felt very young, but nevertheless we have younger friends with children who have agreed to act as surrogate parents should anything happen to us. "What is important in parenting is not how old you are, but whether you are meeting all the child's needs and we are very confident about doing that." World's oldest mother Mr Farrant said the couple had received more than 200 letters, cards and e-mails of goodwill from members of the public and only one, unsigned letter that was "negative in tone". Speaking on the steps of the couple's four-storey townhouse on Saturday he said: "I'm happy, we are happy." Dressed in shorts, sandals and a T-shirt, he said his wife and JJ had no immediate plans to leave the house. Dr Rashbrook described the birth as "absolutely wonderful" "He's had enough excitement in the last couple of days," he said. The couple said the baby had been nicknamed JJ early in the pregnancy, but were yet to decide what his full name would be. Dr Rashbrook described her son, who was delivered by Caesarean section at Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, on Wednesday, as "adorable", adding: "Having been through so much to have him, we are overjoyed. "His birth was absolutely wonderful and deeply moving for both of us." The couple said the baby had been nicknamed JJ early on in the pregnancy, but are yet to decide what his full name will be. Dr Rashbrook is not the first woman in her 60s to become a new mother. Liz Buttle, from Wales, was 60 years old when she gave birth to a son, Joseph, in 1997. The oldest woman in the world to give birth is thought to be Adriana Iliescu, from Romania, who had a daughter called Eliza Maria in January last year at the age of 66 just been watching a show about a dead comedian called les dawson who died at 62 and all his friends we going he was so young if he slowed down in his life and hosted so many shows he would have lived to today. so does this mean that 62 is still young in todays terms and not at all oap?
July 8, 200619 yr Yes, far too old. It will onyl bring heartache to the kid, she could be dead by the time they're 15 or 16.
July 8, 200619 yr Yes. It's simple maths really, the poor child will be brought up and will be lumbered with family or in a foster home by the time he/she reaches their teens. When people reach that age they should be unwinding and not bringing another child into the world. That will just prolong even more stress into their life and could evidentally lead to an even earlier death for the parent. It baffles me what some people are thinking.
July 8, 200619 yr if we live in a free society then we have to accept the more extreme elements of it....
July 8, 200619 yr I think it's too old. They won't have the same amount of energy as say a 30 yr old.
July 9, 200619 yr O dear, look at all these age-ist people on this thread. Unbelievable prejudice. One of my friends at schools father was in his seventies and that worked out fine. I also know a guy who married a younger women, second married, and had a child at 75. I don't think it's a problem. You have to consider some older people are very good with children, they have the experience of people and likely already brought up one set of children. How often do you see the grandparents looking after there grandchildren better then the parents. Quite often I would think. Regarding death, well yes, it's obviously more likely, but death is possible at any age, and with such high divorce rates where the child never gets to see one of the parents again, it might as well be death anyway to be honest.
July 9, 200619 yr I think it's too old. They won't have the same amount of energy as say a 30 yr old. :blink: Someone old also doesn't have a job which they must go to and take so much time away they can't be there for the children.
July 9, 200619 yr Yes it is, particularly for a woman, as nature never intended for a woman to have a baby at that age. This woman in particular, is lucky enough to have had children already, but even if she hadn't, raising a child is hard enough, both physically and mentally, when you're young, so it has got to be a lot harder in your 60s. She may feel fit now but all I can say, is God help her if she's still alive when he/she reaches their teens cos she'll certainly feel her age then :rolleyes:
July 9, 200619 yr :blink: Someone old also doesn't have a job which they must go to and take so much time away they can't be there for the children. Yes but be realistic. At that age you need to be resting, not looking after a baby. And they're gonna die before it's adult. Not really very fair on it. Also, the child might get picked on for having such old parents.
July 9, 200619 yr I see no harm in it to be honest People are living older now and there is no reason why this woman will not live to 85-90 or so with advantages in medicine etc, ok she will struggle to play football with the kid etc but there is no reason why she will necessarily be dead by the time the kid is 16
July 9, 200619 yr Also, the child might get picked on for having such old parents. Sadly, that is very true.
July 9, 200619 yr People are living older now and there is no reason why this woman will not live to 85-90 or so with advantages in medicine etc, I'm all in favour of the wonderful advances in the field of medicine and IVF etc is fantastic for younger childless couples, but there should be a realistic cut off point for such treatment. How many women could naturally conceive a child at 62? Very, very few, if any, so I still say that it is going against nature for a woman to have a child at that age. If women were meant to have children at that age, their bodies would naturally allow that to happen.
July 9, 200619 yr Yes, far too old. It will onyl bring heartache to the kid, she could be dead by the time they're 15 or 16. More like 5 or 6
July 11, 200619 yr There are health risks too. The incidence of Down syndrome rises with increasing maternal age. Many specialists recommend that women who become pregnant at age 35 or older undergo prenatal testing for Down syndrome. The likelihood that a woman under 30 who becomes pregnant will have a baby with Down syndrome is less than 1 in 1,000, but the chance of having a baby with Down syndrome increases to 1 in 400 for women who become pregnant at age 35. The likelihood of Down syndrome continues to increase as a woman ages, so that by age 42, the chance is 1 in 60 that a pregnant woman will have a baby with Down syndrome, and by age 49, the chance is 1 in 12. Source: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs...ndrome/down.htm
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