Is 70 too old to have a baby?

[mantra.]

The world is becoming more ridiculous. An Indian woman has given birth for the first time at 70 - her husband is 72. How are these people expected to raise a child properly at that age - and where would they get the energy for it? This is cruel to the child and IVF should be restricted to women under 45. Australia isn't quite as bad, but taxpayer funded IVF treatment has doubled in the last four years to over $47 million as women over 40 waste precious resources attempting numerous treatments with an almost nil success rate. It takes emotional and physical energy to raise a child - so their motives are obviously selfish in thinking only of their own wants and not the needs of the child they are artificially bringing into this world.

AN Indian woman has given birth to her first child at the age of 70 after IVF treatment, local media reports.

Rajo Devi, who married 50 years ago, gave birth to a baby girl on November 28 after in vitro fertilisation, said Anurag Bishnoi, a doctor at the Hisar fertility centre in Haryana state.

"Rajo Devi and (her husband) Bala Ram approached the centre for treatment and the embryo transfer was done on April 19," he told the Hindustan Times.

"Both the mother and child are in good health."

Ms Devi's husband, aged 72, had also wed his wife's sister after 10 years of his first marriage did not result in children.

His second wife also failed to become pregnant.

It was not clear whose egg and sperm were used in the successful treatment.

"We longed for a child all these years and now we are very happy to have one in the twilight years of our life," Ms Devi told the Times of India.

The couple said they suffered a social stigma for 55 years for being childless.

"The upbringing of the child is not a problem. We have a joint family as is common in rural Haryana," said Mr Ram.

Another 70-year-old Indian was reported to have given birth to twins via IVF in July this year, while a 66-year-old Spanish woman had twins in 2006.

Dr Bishnoi said IVF had revolutionised the way infertility was viewed.

"Infertility is no longer a social taboo or a divine curse. It can be treated scientifically," he said.

[Auzgurl]

Yes it is rediculous mantra looked at purely in years this woman ( and her husband 70 and 72 respectively) has left..but as was mentioned on the Today show..its heartbreaking not to be able to have a baby.

This still does not justify the fact that they will be old parents and maybe will be around for another 10-20 years if they are lucky. I wonder about a system that would allow parents this age to use IVF.

[freediver]

I don't think we have a right to arbitrarily deny women access to IVF, but taxpayer funding should be restricted.

How much is IVF?

[mantra.]

IVF costs the taxpayers around $8,000 per treatment and the user next to nothing now thanks to the Medicare Safety Net introduced by the Howard Government. The following IVF treatments to this one family cost taxpayers approximately $64,000 and they managed to get 3 children out of it. After the baby bonuses - the family came out ahead.

Ben Cowen locked himself in a small room with a plastic cup and a porn magazine and unzipped his pants. What he did next could be interpreted as his patriotic duty. He wanted a baby. And eventually he did manage to get not one, but three - one for him, one for his wife and one for his country.

The last two - twins, born seven months ago - even earned the Elwood investment banker a modest profit. With two healthy girls from a single IVF cycle, he estimates he ended up $2700 in front after collecting a double share of the Federal Government's baby bonus.

But Cowen and his wife, Lahra Carey, had worked hard to earn Treasurer Peter Costello's gratitude for their contribution to fertility rates. Their first baby, a boy named Mitch, had taken two-and-a-half years, seven stimulated cycles, 11 embryo transfers, 22 embryos, $30,000 of their own money, thousands of taxpayer dollars and many tears to bring into the world.

So the couple were bemused to learn this week that what Cowen got up to in that little room - and the subsequent exertions of scientists and medicos in introducing his sperm to Carey's stimulated egg harvest in a test tube - also represents such a drain on the health budget that if he ever felt inclined to do it again, he might earn not a carrot but a stick.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/General/T ... 47118.html

[Hebe]

I don't think we have a right to arbitrarily deny women access to IVF, but taxpayer funding should be restricted.

How much is IVF?

Only if they pay for it themselves. And who said that there is an inherent right to have children? I dispute that.

That Indian baby will probably never really know its parents - it's utter selfish madness.

[JW Frogen]

70 is too old to have sex!

Go to the library or knit something, and for God sake keep your clothes on!

[freediver]

It's Ok Frogen, there was no sex involved, just a turkey baster.

[Hebe]

70 is too old to have sex!

Go to the library or knit something, and for God sake keep your clothes on!

Nah, piss off out of the library. We only want the young and hip digital natives thanks. It's in our so-called "customer service" (hahahaha) charter.

[boxy]

I'm betting (hoping) that 70y.os arn't getting any taxpayer dollars to get up the duff, and neither did the Indian couple. Hopefully their extended family can be a better family to the child than many Aussie kids get.

[Auzgurl]

70 is too old to have sex!

Go to the library or knit something, and for God sake keep your clothes on!

I think when we all get to 70 we may realise how silly that sounds..I'm thinking a lot of 70 year olds have very good sex lives...

My kids say anyone over the age of 21 is old....