Australian Woman Branded By Doctors As 'Selfish' For Having IVF At 62

The woman in Australia was labelled “selfish” after she had a baby via IVF at the age of 62


A woman in Australia has been labelled “selfish” by doctors after she had a baby via IVF at the age of 62 with her 78-year-old husband.

The birth sparked furious debate in Australia and led to heavy criticism from the Australian Medical Association, the peak doctors’ organisation, which said the decision to have a child so late was “madness”.

"Child starts life in NICU [neonatal intensive care unit]. Anyone thought ahead to its teens? Selfish, wrong," said Dr Michael Gannon, the association’s president, on Twitter.

“Consider rights of the child, society, taxpayer. Madness. Not designed to have kids in 60s."

The baby was reportedly conceived via IVF outside Australia, using a fertilised donor embryo, and was born at a hospital in Melbourne.

The first-time mother, who has not been identified, gave birth by caesarean section; the baby was born premature – when the mother was 34 weeks pregnant - but was reportedly healthy.

The mother is the oldest Australian woman to give birth – the previous oldest was aged 60 – but is more than a decade younger than Daljinder Kaur, an Indian woman – believed to be aged 72 - who became the oldest first-time mother when she gave birth in May.

Australia does not impose age limits on IVF treatments but most providers refuse to treat women who are older than 50 or their early 50s, the natural age of menopause.

Professor Gab Kovacs, an expert on IVF, said older women faced increased health risks for themselves and their children and that women older than 50 would only be suitable for IVF if they were fit and their hearts were healthy.

"Being pregnant [at 62] is dangerous to the mother and baby," he told The Age.

"She might have had high blood pressure, which is much more common at a later age. She might have been bleeding behind the placenta, which is much more common at a later age. Also, by the time the child is going to be 21, the mother is going to be 84.”

He added: "If you looked at 100 women who had babies in this situation, there wouldn't be many very happy stories.”

But some people took to social media to defend the parents, saying the decision whether to give birth should be an individual choice.

The comments by Dr Gannon were heavily criticised, with people saying he had attacked the mother but had not condemned the doctor who carried out the procedure or the father.

“Just looking for your outraged tweet about Mick Jagger fathering a child at 72,” said a comment on Twitter.

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