posted on May 24, 2007 10:10:55 AM new
Any comments on this event?
I personally can't imagine having a baby at my age, let alone at an even older age. And twins no less. lol
I had our two sons in my early 20's. My first granddaughter was born as I turned 40. I had the energy both times at those ages to care for them. But age 60? and twins? I have no doubt I'd be unable to properly raise them. Now if one has money to hire help....or a Nanny, then that's a different ball game altogether, imo.
I'm happy she's happy. I wish her well....but it certainly isn't a choice I would have made.
Woman defends decision to give birth at 60
Frieda Birnbaum, oldest new mom in U.S., says she wants to be role model
NBC News video
By John Springer
TODAYShow.com contributor
Updated: 8:31 a.m. CT May 24, 2007
Those who believe it is wrong for older women to bear children need to get in step with a society that is living longer, a 60-year-old woman who gave birth to twins this week said Thursday on TODAY.
“It's wonderful. It's wonderful,” Frieda Birnbaum, who delivered healthy baby boys on Tuesday, said during a live interview from a New Jersey hospital.
“I think those people need to get ready for what's coming up in our society. Whenever there's anything new, people cannot comprehend or have difficult getting comfortable ... There are a lot of middle-aged women [having babies] — 40s, 50s, now I just turned 60. That's going to be acceptable. They have to just keep up with what's going on with society.”
Birnbaum and her husband of 38 years, New York attorney Ken Birnbaum, traveled to South Africa last year to a center that specializes in in-vitro fertilization of older women. The procedure was a success. It surprised no one more than Birnbaum's obstetrician, Dr. Abdulla Al-Khan.
“ ‘Wow!’ was my reaction. I had a little difficulty believing she was pregnant, until we confirmed it with ultrasound,” Al-Khan told TODAY anchor Meredith Vieira.
Birnbaum's adult children had trouble believing it, too. Alana Birnbaum, 29, told the New York Daily News that she was against her parents' decision to have another child so late in life.
“She's youthful for her age but I don't think it's good,” Alana Birnbaum told the tabloid. “She should be going to the gym and taking time for herself — not taking on more stresses and responsibilities ... Am I happy at all about this? No. I'm not,” she said.
Her choice
Asked about her daughter's comment by Vieira, Frieda Birnbaum said the decision was hers and her husband’s to make, and she hopes someday her daughter — and others — will realize how much freedom modern women have and feel empowered by it.
“I hope I'm a role model for my daughter, that when she gets older she can make her own decision based on who she is, rather than what society dictates,” Birnbaum said.
The boys, who tipped the scales at 4 pounds, 11 ounces each when they were delivered by C-section within minutes of each other at the Hackensack University Medical Center, are doing well. The couple named them Jake and Jared.
The Birnbaums also have two other sons — ages 33 and 6. Frieda told Fox News that part of the reason for her decision was that she wanted her younger child to have siblings closer to his age.
Al-Khan cautioned that having children late in life is risky for mother and child. He recommended that anyone considering it consult a physician first, become informed and seek out counseling to make sure late-life motherhood is what they really want.
“I can't be judgmental about that. This has taught me to be very open-minded,” Al-Khan said.
Earlier this year, a woman in Spain delivered twins at age 67, believed to be a world record. Birnbaum is believed to hold the title of oldest new mom in the United States.
Birnbaum and her sons are scheduled to leave the hospital on Saturday.
Click for related content
60-year-old N.J. woman delivers twins
Discuss: How old is too old to have kids?
posted on May 24, 2007 10:16:05 AM new
"" I had our two sons in my early 20's. My first granddaughter was born as I turned 40. I had the energy both times at those ages to care for ""
More unasked for , uninteresting personal information that she will scream at some poster for mentioning.
posted on May 24, 2007 11:22:50 AM newAny comments on this event?
Are you trying to gain people's support for you having kids when you turn 60? Are you planning on having triplets at 70 to out do her?
If not, then who cares.
Mingo: I'm happy for this woman....in 18 years her two darlings can go to Iraq and be butchered.
That is if the woman is still alive at 78 to see that. I kinda feel sorry for these kids. When these kids are in school they will go here is my mom. People will ask is that your mom or grandmother.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on May 25, 2007 06:13:59 PM new
They did not say how she conceives-in vitro?
what about mongoloid syndrome??
are these her egg and his sperm??
Classic,
there is pros and cons of having older parents?
usually they are financially more secure and more mature,but lack the energy and tend to be more protective.
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Lets all stop whining !
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posted on May 25, 2007 06:25:18 PM new
The link I provided does say:
Birnbaum and her husband of 38 years, New York attorney Ken Birnbaum, traveled to South Africa last year to a center that specializes in in-vitro fertilization of older women. The procedure was a success. It surprised no one more than Birnbaum's obstetrician, Dr. Abdulla Al-Khan.
posted on May 25, 2007 08:41:07 PM new
You made the comment about a 60 year old woman having twins, Linda_K, I was just addressing the topic.
The way you were flirting with him it sounded like you were trying to make plans for 9 months from now.
It certainly isn't me with an interest in personal lives, it was you that had a near breakdown when you realized you were talking out your ass about mine.
posted on May 25, 2007 08:45:27 PM new
I see your stupid comment as just ONE MORE example of how twisted your thinking is, kiara.
I was teasing classic....not coming on to him....not flirting with him. I KNOW what he's said about kids in the past.
AGAIN it's a sickness that is only in YOUR mind. And it's YOUR inability to comprehend what is written without making it appear to be something else...totally . But that's YOUR sick MO.
posted on May 25, 2007 08:57:51 PM new
No, I don't mind repeatedly pointing out how sick you are and how juvenile you act here all the time. Nor how you can take even the most simple statement made to someone else, not you and change it into something totally different.
posted on May 26, 2007 06:59:22 AM new
So,this lady has the fertilised egg planted on her uterus wall and went thru the whole nine yards of pregnancy at her age?
What I question is how she endured this ordeal,her body has to react and respond to make the egg grow and grow and the cells divide to produce another human being,not an easy job for a woman her age.
Kind of like remaking your aging VW to compete in the Indy500.
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Lets all stop whining !
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posted on May 26, 2007 08:29:36 AM new
hwahwa - Yes, it had to be extremely hard on her physical well being. But it was her choice and she and her husband knew the risks to her and the babies. They obviously wanted them desperately and were willing to take those risks.
Not something I'd ever be interested in trying. But there have been other grandmothers who gave birth to their daughters child/children. Because their daughters couldn't carry their own child for whatever reasons. THAT might have been one case where I might have considered going through this, I don't know. There certainly are serious risks involved.
