A Tasmanian woman has become a first-time mother at the age of 62, shocking fertility specialists.
The woman, who has not been identified, conceived via IVF and had a caesarean birth at Melbourne's Frances Perry House hospital on Monday, reports Channel 7. Her partner is 78.
The happy couple (Channel 7)
The baby was born about six weeks premature, and is reportedly doing fine. But a specialist has labelled the clinic which carried out the IVF treatment "irresponsible".
Monash University professor Gab Kovacs told the Herald Sun women should be denied such treatments once they hit 53, because that's the "end of natural pregnancy" for most.
"That child will need looking after for 20 years, and there's a possibility she won't be able to do that," he told the paper.
"Our bodies weren't designed to have children in our 60s. I don't think any responsible IVF unit in Australia would treat someone of that age, and it's not a standard of medicine I would condone."
The woman had been trying IVF for years without success.
The previous record for a first-time mum in Australia was 60. The world record is held by Adriana Iliescu of Romania, who had her first baby at 66 in 2005.
Newshub.
