By Mail Foreign Service Last updated at 11:04 AM on 04th July 2008
Grandmother Omkari Panwar has given birth to twins aged 70
She was utterly determined to have a son.
The fact that to do so would make 70-year-old Omkari Panwar the world's oldest mother didn't even cross her mind.
Her resolve was matched by her husband Charan Singh Panwar, 77.
To pay for the IVF treatment vital to producing a male heir to the family's smallholdings, the retired farmer sold his buffalos, mortgaged his land, spent his life savings and took out a credit card loan.
And it all paid off when Mrs Panwar gave birth to twins - a boy and girl - by emergency Caesarean section in hospital in Muzaffarnagar, seven hours drive north of the Indian capital New Delhi.
The twins, born a month premature and weighing 2lb each, are healthy, according to doctors.
The Panwars already have two adult daughters, and five grandchildren, but the latest arrivals are what they have been waiting for - not least because a son will benefit from a dowry when he marries and will be able to work their land.
Mrs Panwar said: 'For eight months the pregnancy was hectic and painful. But I have given birth before, so I knew what to expect. Sometimes, you have to face the pain if you want something good.'
Her husband added: 'At last we have a son and heir. We prayed to God, went to saints and visited religious places to pray for an heir.
'The treatment cost me a fortune but the birth of a son makes it all worthwhile. I can die a happy man and a proud father.'
Wonders of science: The twins born to Omkari Panwar
Mrs Panwar, who has no birth certificate, uses the date of India's independence in 1947 to gauge her age. She remembers being nine when the British left India - meaning she is now 70.
Romanian Adriana Iliescu, who gave birth to a daughter through IVF aged 66 in 2005, was previously the world's oldest mother.
Mrs Panwar was told she had beaten the record as she recuperated on a rusty steel bed in the mudbrick home of one of her daughters.
Proud parents: Omkari Panwar, 70, with her husband Charan, 77
'I didn't know that,' she said. 'But it is of little benefit to me. I have not even seen my own children yet - they were taken to a specialist hospital while I was still unconscious.
'If I am the world's oldest mother it means nothing to me. I just want to see my new babies and care for them while I am still able.'
Gynaecologist Nisha Malik, who delivered the twins in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, said: 'I was shocked when this old lady told me she was pregnant. I have been in medicine for 20 years and I have never heard of such a case.'
Omraki Panwar recovers in hospital after delivering her twin via Caesarean section
• Britain's oldest mother is child psychologist Patricia Rashbrook, who was 62 when she gave birth to a son in 2006. Dr Rashbrook had paid £10,000 for IVF treatment in Russia.
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Strangeways.: [QB] And let's not forget Adriana Iliescu, who celebrated her 70th birthday on Saturday & is actually a first time mum:
............she looks like she used to be a man! Posts: 1917 | From: WALES | Registered: Apr 2007
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She looks bloody good for 70. The one who had twins does anyway. The other looks like the local tramp in drag. Poor kids. Who will bring them up when their parents die.
Posts: 1710 | From: we come in peace | Registered: Mar 2008
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quote:Originally posted by Strangeways.: And let's not forget Adriana Iliescu, who celebrated her 70th birthday on Saturday & is actually a first time mum:
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They obviously don't think of that. I mean their other children, if they had any would be the age of grandparents too!
As for the second lady, why didnt she try for children decades ago rather than wait until she's got one foot in the grave?!
Posts: 1917 | From: WALES | Registered: Apr 2007
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Well I am 41 now and would love to have a baby but I was sterilised after my third c section. Now I have to wait until I become a grandmother.....at least I am realistic!
Posts: 1917 | From: WALES | Registered: Apr 2007
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You can't decide what's good for someone else. Actress Adrian Barbo had a baby at 51. I used to think the best time to have a baby was in a person's twenties. That it was weird to have a baby at 50. Now, I think that it gives women a second chance if there is not an age limit to have babies, Advocate. Just think, if a woman could not have a baby at 20, due to finanicial troubles, then, at 60, she go to the doctor and he says that she can deliver a healthy baby, wouldn't you want her to have that second change at something? Posts: 384 | Registered: Jan 2008
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quote:Originally posted by caringforwomen: You can't decide what's good for someone else. Actress Adrian Barbo had a baby at 51. I used to think the best time to have a baby was in a person's twenties. That it was weird to have a baby at 50. Now, I think that it gives women a second chance if there is not an age limit to have babies, Advocate. Just think, if a woman could not have a baby at 20, due to finanicial troubles, then, at 60, she go to the doctor and he says that she can deliver a healthy baby, wouldn't you want her to have that second change at something?
I see what you are saying but what is in the best interest for the child? that is what we should be considering, not what is in the best interest/need/want of the adult. What quality of life would it have with an elderly parent, ultimately the child would become the parent's carer and have no life of it's own.
Posts: 1917 | From: WALES | Registered: Apr 2007
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Children are basically not 'for us'; they are 'for themselves' - i.e. they should not be conceived only to fulfil a woman's maternal needs/yearnings - at any age, be it 20 or 40 (or ...70). That's a little bit selfish. That's my humble opinion.
Posts: 2807 | From: Europe | Registered: Nov 2007
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I think that there is a situation of women deciding it's there right to have children. Which is wrong! I understand women keeping eggs if they have been diagnosed with cancer. But I feel there is not a god given right to have children! It is a gift not a right!
Posts: 4476 | From: Scotland | Registered: Mar 2006
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There are women that have babies in their twenties and when they get old, their children still take care of them. My great- grandmother was 28 when she had my grandmother and when she got old my grandma still took care of her. Posts: 384 | Registered: Jan 2008
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