British Woman Expecting at Age 63
May 8, 2006 — -- A psychiatrist who is due to become Britain's oldest mother at the age of 63 has answered her critics by saying "a great deal of thought" has gone into her decision to have a baby.
Patricia Rashbrook paid a reported $90,000 for treatment with the controversial Italian fertility expert Dr. Severino Antinori, and the baby is due in two months' time, according to the British tabloid The Sun. Antinori has a reputation for achieving pregnancies in women over 60 and is known by the Italian press as the "father of impossible children."
Recent legislation in Italy forbids women older than 50 from receiving fertility treatment so the gynecologist, who has a clinic in Rome, set up a clinic in an unnamed former Soviet bloc country.
Antinori said in a statement that he was "extremely satisfied" to have helped Rashbrook and said that he was aware of the controversy the case could cause. He also stressed that Rashbrook was a "very rare case" and that he would not provide treatment to most women of her age.
Antinori said he supported Rashbrook's request for in vitro fertilization as she has a biological age of around 45. He added, "The couple love each other. She is slim, blonde and in perfect condition. She fits all the criteria for maternity."
There are no laws preventing fertility clinics in the United Kingdom from treating a couple in their 60s, but doctors have refused to perform the treatment, because of the risks it poses to the mother's health and issues about the child's welfare.
Reactions to the new mom-to-be have varied from shudders of distaste to pity for the child bearing the stigma of an ancient mother at the school gates. Some supporters point out that older parents are in a very good position, through maturity and life experience, to make sure that a child gets this love and care.
The critics bristling with outrage and disgust say Rashbrook is refusing to accept her biological fate.
Rachel Heath of the U.K.'s leading pro-life charity, Life, told ABC News that she worried that "having children when the mother is beyond her child-bearing years is indicative of our consumerist society where we can buy what we want." She stressed that "we are dealing with human life here, and it is the child's welfare that is the main consideration."
Rashbrook defended her decision in a statement: "We're taking our responsibility very seriously and regard the best interests of the child as paramount."
IVF has helped thousands of childless couples fulfill their dreams of having a family. The oldest woman in the world to give birth, Adriana Iliescu, of Bucharest, Romania, had a daughter in 2005 when she was 66.