A pensioner from canton Aargau has given birth to her first child – at the age of 64. This makes her the oldest mother in Switzerland.
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Mother and daughter, who is now four-and-a-half months old, are both well and on Tuesday appeared on the front page of Swiss tabloid Blick (see link for video).
The woman, whose husband is 60, had a miscarriage when she was 61 and three years later decided to try again. According to Blick, she went for an examination in Italy and then travelled to Russia where she received an egg from a donor. This is illegal in both Switzerland and Italy.
“When you harbour a wish so deeply, you must fulfil it,” said the proud mother in the video.
In Switzerland artificial insemination is legal but only with the mother’s own eggs. Donation and the freezing of embryos is illegal. Also, in Switzerland only embryos that are definitely going to be transplanted into the womb may be cultivated, which means that doctors cannot choose the one that is most likely to lead to a successful pregnancy.
In Switzerland about 6,000 women are artificially inseminated a year, and about five “test tube” babies are born every day. Around ten per cent of mothers are treated abroad.
The oldest mothers on record are two Indian women who both gave birth to twins at the age of 70 – although one woman’s age was estimated.
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