Becoming A Mom At An Old Age?

 

Grandma attending to her newborn grandchild? Naaahhh, this is first time Mom, 72 years old Daljinder Kaur Gill, with her very first "bundle of joy", namely a son. Presumably she is not even the oldest woman to have that happening to her, but who knows, some day there may be someone even older than a woman in her seventies. Right now, several politicians and "concerned citizens" are clamoring for more babies, so I wonder why the usual "baby-claimers" like e.g. Elon Musk haven't saluted this female bravery. Most probably, it's because these women give birth to brown or black-skinned babies, and most of those usual "baby-claimers" want them white, blue-eyed and male ....

Up through history, the mortality of both the mother and the child in childbirth was considerable. Getting pregnant and giving birth was tempting The Grim Reaper to strike down on both the mother and the baby. 

Even though those women in good social circumstances, who were well-fed and taken care of by a good midwife, might end up suffering a premature death. Some, like e.g. Queen Anne of England (1665-1714), presumably gave birth to 18 children, many of which were still-born or died within a few months after birth: Actually, not a single one survived for a longer period than 11 years which must have been an unbearable situation for her, being the last Stuart on the English throne. 

Queen Anne with her son who died at 11 years of age

Dangerous as it is to get pregnant and give birth, it's quite surprising that women, much older than what's considered the natural age for not having that possibility anymore, get fertility treatments in order to have a baby. I suppose that some/most of them (???) want to prove that they are what's called "real women" in the Patriarchy, i.e. those who want to and do get pregnant. Being subjected to the many myths of "true femininity" they want to fulfill what they see as "their role in society", and one of the ways to do so is to get pregnant, even at an age where pregnancy may pose a grave danger to them. For instance, the risk of diabetes and hypertension are much worse than when the pregnancy happens at a lower age. And, what's more, the child risks an extremely low weight, premature birth and certain defects. However, with IVF and caesarian births, women find new ways of becoming moms, although the female biological clock can vary greatly from woman to woman.

Safina Namukwaya was 70 years old when she had twins, a boy and a girl, using IVF and a caesarean. Presumably she isn't even the oldest woman to give birth because that's supposed to be 73 (74?) years old Erramatti Mangamma.   

Erramatti Mangamma

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67577038 

https://www.today.com/parents/moms/66-year-old-woman-has-baby-rcna198144

 

Wikipedia