Too old to be a mum?

I've just been reading about the case of a Brazilian woman of 61 who is expecting a baby in November and the controversy it has caused. I think it's a shame that these very rare cases of much older women getting pregnant after fertility treatment often muddy the waters of the debate about assisted reproduction.

Although we seem to read about women approaching pension age having miracle babies in the papers fairly often, it's really most unusual for fertility clinics to treat women who are so far past the menopause. The woman in this case has said she is in "great health" but what constitutes great health for a woman of 61 is hardly the same as for a woman twenty years younger. By the time the woman's child is 18, she will be approaching 80 assuming she lives that long and it's the decision as to whether this would be fair on the child that should be paramount.

The saddest thing about these stories is that they perpetuate the myth that fertility treatment can offer a solution to age-related infertility. In fact, like many of the older celebrities we read about who suddenly get pregnant at a somewhat advanced age, the woman in this case used an egg from a donor. No matter how fit and healthy we may feel as we get older, getting pregnant gets harder the longer you leave it - and fertility treatment can't reverse the biological clock.