62 Years Old Gives Birth to a Baby Boy

LONDON: 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. But some say that having a child at such an age is a selfish act and that the child will eventually pay the price.

Dr. Rashbrook already has three children, aged 26, 22 and 18. She 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, costed £ 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 Dr. Rashbrook, 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. 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.