Indian Woman Gives Birth at 70
There’s been an abundance of odd headlines lately, fading even before their 15 minutes, like Police flush man from bathroom ceiling, and Woman smuggles monkey to U.S. under blouse.
But one such headline refuses to go away: Indian woman, 70, gives birth to first child after IVF treatment.
Part oddity, part odyssey, the story of septuagenarian first-time mother Rajo Devi has reverberated around the world, sparking a fierce debate about whether giving birth late in life is responsible.
For 50 years of marriage, Devi tried unsuccessfully to have a child. Her husband, now 72, even married Devi’s sister in an effort to produce a child—an acceptable practice in their region of India. But the sister did not become pregnant either. News reports said the couple endured great cultural shame because of their inability to have children.
So with the help of a fertility specialist, a donor egg, and her husband’s sperm, 70-year-old Devi became pregnant and delivered a baby daughter. “We longed for a child all these years,” she said, “and now we are very happy to have one.”
But not all the world shared the couple’s joy. From India to Ireland, Australia to America, people reacted to the same critical questions, summed up by a newspaper columnist: “Where does the yearning to be a parent become selfish disregard for the life of the child being created? A child whose parents will almost definitely not see her into adulthood? How old is too old to have a baby?”
Absurd. Appalling. Selfish. Many readers offered the same objections. “Wow, she will most likely be dead before the child’s 10th birthday,” one wrote. “What a terrible thing to do to a child, to insure that they will live most of their life without a parent.” While some quoted news reports that the baby had a large extended family to help, others countered: “Do you know a child who has lost their mother before their 12th birthday? Go try saying to them, ‘Oh well, at least you’ve got an extended family’ and see what reaction you’ll get. No one can ever replace your mother.”
Some readers were less disapproving: “Who knows, having the wisdom of being 70 and raising a child might be one of the best things for that kid.” Another questioned, “Who are we to judge? Just because a mother has a baby at 20 does not guarantee she will see the baby into adulthood. Sometimes having a parent who really wanted a baby is far more valuable.”
Still others took issue with the doctors’ role: “Surely the physicians who treated Rajo Devi were equally responsible for this moral quandary? Who are they to help ‘create’ a child condemned to a parentless life?”
Tell us what you think: Did Rajo Devi act responsibly or irresponsibly in giving birth at age 70? When personal dreams collide with personal responsibility, which should take precedence?
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Partial miracle
Even so that it is only manipulation of medicine. Think about the woman who is giving birth. Usually there is difficulty giving birth at the age of 40 and many lose the child or even more their own lives as well. We do not live in the old days when Sarah the woman from the bible who had a baby at 90! In a sense, it is a partial miracle because the woman is not dead from giving birth and an aging body. Seriously though, this woman wanted a baby bad. I think we shouldn’t judge her for having a baby with medical help.
Anonymous | 1 year, 2 months ago
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It's not about the parent ...
Didn’t mother Teresa run an orphanage for unwanted, throw away children of India? If the 70 year old woman wanted a child so bad, why didn’t she go so mother Teresa’s convent and adopt one?
Parenting is an act of stewardship. As a society we have almost completely forgotten that concept. It’s not about us and what we want; it’s about what is best for those we bring into this world. That includes being able to support them, teach them, lead them, mold them into responsible contributors to this consciousness we call society. Children are a gift and sometimes that gift is random and unwanted, sometimes those that seek the gift never get it. That’s the flaw with being human. Should we all seek to be gods because we can with new technologies?
elizabeth | 1 year, 2 months ago
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Not sure
I’m not sure where I stand on this one. I’m thirty one, and just had my third child. I feel for this woman, as I felt so tired after having my third baby-how would I feel at seventy?
I hope this woman live to the age where they can see this child to adulthood; if not, I pray for the child to have strength. I feel its irresponsible for the parents to have IVF into this age; most people would see the natural end of fertility in women(around menopause) as the end of the possibility of children. I just hope all goes well here. And I hope that a bunch of women in their sixties and seventies(eighties?) don’t go out and seek out IVF to have those kids they couldn’t have when God intended women to have children.
There are MANY children out there, in every country, of every ethnicity-who need loving families. Who else feels that adoption is a much better way, and much less expensive way-to become a parent in this case?
Anonymous | 1 year, 1 month ago
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GOD BLESS THE FAMILY!
it’s what GOD wants..
nancy belcher | 1 year, 1 month ago
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God blessed ...
God blessed Abraham and Sarah with a child in their later years. It is his will – not ours to judge.
Anonymous | 1 year, 1 month ago
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"God Blessed......"
God did bless Abraham and Sarah with a child in their later years! Did Sarah use In Vitro Fertilization to force God’s will or to decide that God was wrong to never give them children? No. She truly did experience a miracle; this woman used a donor egg (Sarah didn’t) she used drugs and a doctor used a laboratory to grow this child in a dish-and then, he implanted it into her uterus-and might I add, this woman is WELL past the age at which women have children naturally. Which is why this is not a miracle-its a tragedy in waiting. Tell this child why his mother/father can’t be there for him at his high school graduation, or why he has to take care of his aging parents at a young age. If they even live that long. Sad indeed that a doctor even considered giving this woman treatment.
Anonymous | 1 year, 1 month ago
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The argument society seems to have with having children late in life is that the parents wont live long enough to raise them. But often parents die young. Even our president’s mother died young. My mother died at 50 and my father died at 30.There are no guarantees how long we have on this earth.However, it would have wiser to try this treatment sooner if possible. Maybe these twins will give the couple added inspiration to live longer.
maryj | 1 year, 1 month ago
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Parent/Child Responsibility
I am sorry that no children made her an outcast, but I know something worse. Being 36, younger and having to watch your parents health fail. I may sound selfish, but I am the youngest of 7 children. the oldest ones are in their 50’s and yet somehow I am the one taking physical care of my mom and dad. the others are too selfish with their time. I know how it feels to go from “baby girl” to wiping butts and bathing my parents. How old will this child be before he is born into hospice slavery. It will happen because of course he/she will love their parents deeply. Still young, the heart wants to do what will be right, taking care of the people who gave them life, is natural. But how do you decide it’s ok to have a child, just in time to take care of YOU. It is so painful knowing they can’t walk again or potty alone or get into their mobile chair alone. It’s like mourning your parents before they are even gone. Bet they weren’t thinking of this child’s future, without parents or the hole in their heart from watching them die. I want to see my children graduate, marry, and have their own children. I pray they accomplish ALL of that, before I need hospice. Adoption would have been more logical. They could have adopted a needy, desperate for love, ten year old son and have taught him the family business. Most orphans over 10 are not considered. They remain orphans all their life. With a new child, chances are they won’t even clear high school before the parents are senile or dead. What kind of life will that leave him/her with working and putting all his money into his parents instead of his future.
Carla | 1 year, 1 month ago
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THANKS TO GOD
Hey this is Machelle. There is nothing wrong with having a baby at an older age. It’s like a 30 year old woman having a baby, but some people in the world look at it differently, you know, but its not them, so congratulations to you and your baby girl and boy. May God be with all of you.
machelle locklear | 1 year, 1 month ago
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True, it is very hard for a woman of 70 to have a baby first or fifteenth. But God in his infinite wisdom may have given this child the best parents in the world. It sounds as if it is a cultural thing that they were looked down on because they did not have a child, so they fulfilled their place in their culture. Modern technology is guilty of some awesome things. Maybe this woman is a very young 70 and she may come from a family that lives to be very old. Who are we to judge. We allow women to abort babies when they do not want them, who are we to condemn a woman of any age who has a child that she will love and take care of?
Camille | 1 year, 1 month ago
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