Great-Grandmother Gives Birth at 62

Feb. 19, 2006 — -- Janise Wulf is 62 years old and the mother of 10, grandmother of 20 and great-grandmother of three. But she decided that she wanted to have more children, and on Friday gave birth to a boy through in vitro fertilization.

Adam Charles Wulf weighed 6 pounds, 9 ounces and was born via C-section.

Adam already has a 3-year-old brother, Ian, also conceived via IVF. His oldest half-sibling is 40. Wulf lost two other children, one at birth and another in his 30s.

Wulf's grandson, Quinten Myers, is just months older than Adam. She said that to cut down on confusion, all the children in the family will simply call each other cousins.

Wulf, of Redding, Calif., wanted to raise a family with her second husband, Scott Wulf, who was not able to have children during his previous marriage.

"I am no longer working; I have a lot of time to devote," said Janise Wolf. "I had raised all my together children and remarried.

"My husband is retired from the service, and he was there to help me," added Wulf, who is blind. "I have always loved children, obviously."

Willing to Risk It

Only three women are known to have given birth at a later age than Wulf. They are Adriana Iliescu, 66, of Romania, who conceived the child through artificial insemination, and Rosanna Della Corte of Italy and Acheli Keh of California, who both reportedly gave birth at age 63. However, reports say Keh lied about her age to get into her fertility program.

Wulf, who used to work as a piano and organ saleswoman, was inspired after reading a book called "Expecting Miracles" about older mothers.

Her doctor, Jorge Pena of Mercy Medical Center, said giving birth over the age of 35 is always considered risky -- but because Wulf was in good health, he decided to follow through with the procedure.

"I assumed care of Janise when she was entering her second trimester [and] the concerns I had had mostly to do with her age," he said. "It's very rare; you might call it a rare condition."

"We settled those concerns when we went through and we talked to the medical specialists in the area," said Wulf's 48-year-old husband, Scott, "and they put our fears to rest."

Scott Wulf said his wife had no trouble keeping up with Ian and has a lot of energy. He said they are both in good health.

However, Scott Wulf was "pretty sure" this would be their last child. Janise Wulf will be 80 when Adam graduates from high school, but Scott Wulf said that will not be a problem.

"She's a wonderful woman; soul mate," he said. "She'll be just as full of life at 80 as she always has been."