70 year old women gives birth

By Averi Cervantez, Staff Writer

A seventy year old women in India may have broken the record for being the oldest women to give birth.

Daljinder Kaur, believed to be seventy years old, and her husband, Mohinder Singh Gill, about 79 years old, gave birth to their son, Arman on April 19. This is the first child for the couple who have been married for 46 years. Due to the lack of birth certificates in India, many people over the age of 50 are unaware of their exact age.

The couple underwent two years of In Vitro Fertilization treatment, or IVF. “I feel blessed to be able to hold my own baby. I had lost hope of becoming a mother ever,” says Kaur on CBS News. The couple never considered adoption because they had faith in being able to have their own child.

Even though this seems to be a miracle, questions arises: how old is too old? Many were very concerned about the risks and safety of both the mother and child.

Child birth defects and health risks for the mother are more present as a woman becomes older. “Complications associated with blood pressure, blood sugars, other things that can affect the mother’s health,” explained Dr. Ruth M. Farrell to Arshad R. Zargar and Ashley Welch of CBS News. Other risks include preeclampsia, kidney or other organs failure. Not to mention the other mental health defects the child might face. According to AJ+, giving birth to a child with Down syndrome increases to every 1 child out of 30 for women over 45.

The morals of the parents are often questioned, as well. Would it be fair for the child to have such high risk parents? Who would care for the child if the parents were to become ill or deceased? Gill, on CBS News, responded to these questions by referencing his faith and said “I have full faith in God. God is omnipotent and omnipresent, he will take care of everything.”

But is it still right for the parents to have the child experience the loss of a parent at such a young age? It is understood that eventually everyone dies, but would the child be able to accept the fact that his parents might pass way before his peer’s parents. How old is too old?