[euglena]

62 Year-old British Woman Becomes Mother
Main Category: Fertility News
Article Date: 08 Jul 2006 - 10:00am (PDT)
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Dr. Patricia Rashbrook, 62, a psychiatrist, has become the oldest women in the UK to give birth. She had a baby boy who weighed 6lbs 10oz. Her husband, John Farrant, 60, says they are both doing well.

This birth has come amid controversy in the United Kingdom. Some say that a person in Dr. Rashbrook's financial position is well placed to bring up a child in a comfortable, loving environment. Others say that having a child at such an age is a selfish act and that the child will eventually pay the price.

Dr. Rashbrook, who already has three children, aged 26, 22 and 18, went to Russia for her fertility treatment, which was carried out by Dr. Severino Antinori, an Italian fertility expert. All her adult children were from her first marriage. The baby boy, known as JJ, was conceived through IVF. A donor egg was used. The whole process, which was successful after the fifth attempt, cost £10,000 ($18,200).

This birth means Rashbrook's present husband is a father for the first time.

Several health care professionals feel Dr. Rashbrook is too old to have a baby. Many point out that she will be 80 years' old when the boy completes his A-levels (Senior High School), she will be 78 when he completes his GCSEs (Junior High School). The risk of developing some disabling or fatal disease significantly grows for Dr. Rashbrook each year from now on, compared to a mother who gave birth in her twenties, thirties or forties.

According to an interview Dr. Rashbrook had with The Daily Mail, having the baby was the right thing to do. She says she does not feel too old to give birth and bring up a child. Had she thought they would not be good enough parents they would never have considered this. She says she and her husband are extremely healthy and have always felt and looked very young. They have friends who will act as surrogate parents should their present health and vigour change. Dr. Rashbrook stressed that for a child, what matters more than age, is meeting his/her needs - and she is confident of doing that.

According to her husband, they have received 200 letters of support and one unsigned letter that expressed the opposite. They have not decided on a name for the boy yet - for the moment he is called JJ.

JJ was delivered by casesarean section at Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, Sussex, UK.

The world record for giving birth is 66, by a Romanian woman called Adriana Iliescu. She had a baby girl.

We have had several emails on this matter, some in favour and some against. Here are some quotes:

“I was brought up by my grandparents when my mother and father died. I had a lovely childhood and could not have asked for more.”

“How will the child feel when he is picked up at school by a very old mother or father?”

“Will the boy be teased at school?”

“Unlike millions of children in the world, this child will not suffer the hardships of poverty.”

“If a drug addict in her twenties can become a single mother, why shouldn't a well-to-do 62 year-old married woman?”

“This child will probably receive much more love than I ever did. My parents were 21 and 22 when I was born. They used to beat me all the time.”

“If her body refused IVF treatment four times, shouldn't she have taken that as a message from nature?”

“Most likely, the boy's children will never know their paternal grandparents.”

“It is highly unlikely this boy will become a menace to society as a result of having elderly parents. Most likely, he will become well balanced and productive as an adult.”

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthn ... wsid=46812

[Soma]

I've been reading bits about this case in the papers over the last few weeks. I think that the whole thing is disgusting.

The main concerns of the people quoted in the article were the child's welfare. This is important - he will be parentless by his mid-teens more than likely, and someone else will have to look out for him. His life may be tougher as a result of having such old parents. My friend's father was 70 when he was born, and he and his siblings found growing up fatherless very hard indeed, as would anyone.

The moral aspect of this is what bothers me though. I find all IVF repulsive, but spending that much money, time and effort so that this woman can have a child in her 60s is just madness. Madness! What a waste of money and resources! How very selfish. I can't stand it when people repeatedly go for IVF treatment to have babies of their own when there are thousands upon thousands of children rotting in orphanages around the world (though I realise that this couple would have been turned down as adoptive parents, and quite rightly.)

I see this as a couple of self-indulgent idiots satisfying a ridiculous dream of theirs in the most horrific of ways.

[Boondock Saint]

Dr. Patricia Rashbrook, 62, a psychiatrist, has become the oldest women in the UK to give birth.

You would think a person with that kind of education would know better.

Like Soma points out, the offspring will parentless by its teens. These two parents are, without a doubt, assholes.

Proof that having a PhD doesnt actually mean you're that bright.

[dannymu]

Dr. Patricia Rashbrook, 62, a psychiatrist, has become the oldest women in the UK to give birth.

That's still a bit inaccurate. She is a CHILD psychiatrist. complete stupidity from this woman.

[HoniSoit]

What a waste of money and resources! How very selfish.

You would think a person with that kind of education would know better.

complete stupidity from this woman

What's wrong with this lady's decison?I really don't see there is anything in what she did begging others' moral judgement.Since when we need to intrude into a couple's decision?There are of course legitimate concerns but there are concerns in almost every decision we make.Would you welcome a media exposure and people telling you what you should do or what you done wrong?

[euglena]

I don`t know how I feel about it.

On one hand it`s their decision, on the other as others have pointed out, there may be some strange psychological adjustment the child has to make when the parents happen to deteriorate while they are growing up.

What would a libertarian say about this?

I`m more interested in the medical aspect actually - she must have menopaused ages ago - I`m surprised the rest of the birth-system worked.

[dannymu]

What's wrong with this lady's decison?I really don't see there is anything in what she did begging others' moral judgement.Since when we need to intrude into a couple's decision?There are of course legitimate concerns but there are concerns in almost every decision we make.Would you welcome a media exposure and people telling you what you should do or what you done wrong?

I am not intruding in the couple's decision. I only know of this situation because of the media. And I bet this couple didn't have any problem at all with media intrusion. But I'm well within my rights to make a judgement on the couple's decision whether they like it or not. For me their decision was a very irresponsible/ bad one. And the woman should know things even better as she is a child psychiatrist. A 62 year old woman should have menopaused. And as euglena said it's surprising how she managed to overcome the menopause. I'm really surprised how stupid scientists are in trying to create a baby for a woman that should be grand-mother instead of focusing in other problems such as AIDS. A complete waste of money. This baby will have parents that in a few years time will be too old to care for him. This baby will actually see his parents dying when he has become a teenager or even earlier. The parents will get ill, become unable to move, talk, listen. It will be traumatic for the child to see other children with much younger parents and him with parents thats hold be grand-parents. Again I stress it's the couple's decision. This couple will bear full responsibility for their actions.

[Boondock Saint]

What's wrong with this lady's decison?

She has placed her own personal desires over the mental well being of a child that she is bringing to this world for no other reason then self-satisfaction.

The child will not have a Mother for much of its childhood.

I really don't see there is anything in what she did begging others' moral judgement.

Then you lack morality.

Since when we need to intrude into a couple's decision?

I did not dig this up, it's a news story.

There are of course legitimate concerns but there are concerns in almost every decision we make.

Irrelevant.

Would you welcome a media exposure and people telling you what you should do or what you done wrong?

If I were so morally bankrupt as this woman? No, of course I would not welcome it. A cockroach never enjoys the shining light.

On one hand it`s their decision, on the other as others have pointed out, there may be some strange psychological adjustment the child has to make when the parents happen to deteriorate while they are growing up.

Cetainly, it is her decision. I am not advocating the state take this freedom away from her or any other citizen. I am simply stating my opinion that her disgusting attitude towards her own child is loathsome.

I`m more interested in the medical aspect actually - she must have menopaused ages ago - I`m surprised the rest of the birth-system worked.

I don't know why you would be surprised. Aside from the egg itself the rest is rather simple biology. There is no reason a female of advanced age can not act as an incubator. I am also not aware of the birth canal losing its capacity to function post menopause either.

I imagine though that high doses of estrogen were used.

[Maxim Litvinov]

The child will not have a Mother for much of its childhood.

If she lives to 80 like most people her age do, then the child will see all of its childhood out before his mother dies.

Lots of children in the past had their mothers die in childbirth and lots still today have parents die before they reach adulthood, so it's not that great a deal.

[Boondock Saint]

If she lives to 80 like most people her age do, then the child will see all of its childhood out before his mother dies.

This presumes that a woman at 70+ years of age will be in good health and capable of being a 'Mother' as opposed to a nonambulatory once was incubator.

Having watched my Grandparents and Step-Father reach advanced age it became apparent to me that age sucks the life out of a person, making said person incapable of providing the type of attention that a young mother of, say 26 years of age, would be capable of providing.

Having a woman who can do little but shimmy from her bed to her couch just so she can take her pills and nap for most of the day makes a mother not.

Lots of children in the past had their mothers die in childbirth and lots still today have parents die before they reach adulthood, so it's not that great a deal.

This alot like saying 'lots of women are raped, lots of women have this happen to them so it's not a great deal when it happens.'

Just because something occurs to a portion of the population does not nullify the potential negative consequences of said something happening.

And no, I am not comparing the physical act of rape to the physical act of death.

[euglena]

I don't know why you would be surprised. Aside from the egg itself the rest is rather simple biology. There is no reason a female of advanced age can not act as an incubator. I am also not aware of the birth canal losing its capacity to function post menopause either.

I imagine though that high doses of estrogen were used.

Simple physiology?
An incubator?

I`m sorry you will have to explain to me how gestation is in any way or form simple, starting with the placental selective barrier to certain immunoglobulins and not others.

[Invisigoth]

A lot of people would say my mother is considerably younger than my father. Children at school can tease you for having a father who could easily be your grandfather if you just take age into consideration.

One of the problems is that my father was unable to play with me after I turned 10. On the other hand, my mother who was physically capable of doing so didn't. My father was physically unable to and my mother didn't want to.

As someone who values knowledge and intelligence however, I am very glad to have had a father who is considerably older. He came from a very loving and well adjusted family. He didn't have children until he wanted to, until he met the right person, and until he had acquired enough wisdom as a person. By the time I was born, he was highly educated, he had seen enough friends and relatives to know what mistakes he wished to avoid, and had essentially raised two children who had no father. He had savings . . . in all, it was an ideal time for him to have a family of his own.

My paternal grandfather died a month after I was born. My paternal grandmother died years later in her mid nineties. Genetically, his family is healthy and lives a very long time. He takes excellent care of his health, eats lots of fruits and vegetables . . . I suspect he will continue to live many years. If anything, it is my mother who has health problems.

I got to compare my life with that of those my age growing up. As is, I still value wisdom. If I were to have a child, I would wait just as he did. If a child resents his parents because some kids at school may now and then make a negative comment - such a child is weak. One cannot underestimate the psychological impact of having a financially able parent, extremely loving, educated, wise . . . et cetera. To reduce parenting to whether or not they can play basketball with you is pathetic. My father made it a point to challenge me intellectually and that is one of the greatest gifts he could have given me.

When it comes to parenting, it is about the individuals involved. Most people are not fit to be parents other than biologically. It is almost a joke that trauma and maladjustment is part of growing up. It doesn't have to be. If a set of parents are young and considerably wise, that is an ideal environment. If a set of parents are young and unwise, it is not. If a set of parents are old and unwise, they are unfit to be parents, and if a set of parents happens to be old and wise, they will make good parents.

In my opinion, whether the couple in the article will make good parents will depend not as much on age, but on their level of wisdom. The woman having had three children should be fully aware of what has worked and what has not and has the unique opportunity to see her influence in her other children from birth to adulthood. Moreover, as a child psychologist, her chances of 'getting it right' as they say, improve exponentially.

The situation as described by the article, is ideal for a good parenting experience. Whether this couple manages to follow through and live up to this potential remains to be seen. As is, there isn't enough evidence to suggest they would make poor parents.