Is 57 too old for fertility treatment

I spent an hour reading the papers at the hairdressers today - a rare treat - but was sad to read the story in almost every paper of the pensioner IVF mother who says she now thinks that there should be an age cut-off for fertility treatment. She'd had a first child in her late fifties after fertility treatment at an overseas clinic, but a London clinic had offered to treat her again to try for a second. One of the reasons her case was said to be different was that her partner was considerably younger, but now they've split up and being a single mum in her sixties is clearly a pretty tough job.

Apparently she now says she thinks that 50 would be an appropriate upper age limit for fertility treatment, and as someone rapidly approaching a half century myself, I think she's right. There are so many women in their twenties, thirties and forties who desperately need donor eggs and it seems only fair that they should be treated rather than women in their fifties, who can hardly have been unaware that they were leaving it rather late to try to get pregnant.

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.

Indian triplets for 66-year old mother

I've just been reading about the triplets born to a woman of 66 in Northern India. Her doctor seems rather proud to announce that she is the oldest woman in the world to give birth to triplets. This was apparently her third attempt at IVF and she had three embryos transferred as the two embryos put back in the earlier cycles had failed to implant. The three babies are now in intensive care as they are very underweight.

The treatment was carried out at the same clinic in Haryana where a woman of 70 who became the world's oldest mother was treated. The clinic seems to specialise in treating pensioners and the website is quite bizarre, featuring pictures of elderly couples next to tiny babies. In India, the average age expectancy for a woman is 66 and it's even younger for a man, so the clinic are helping to create babies whose parents are highly unlikely to live past their first few years. And surely carrying three babies and then having a Caesarean at 66 is hardly going to increase your life expectancy...

It's stories like these that have to make you glad that we have such a highly regulated system in the UK, and that our fertility doctors consider what is right for potential parents and children when they are making decisions about treatment, rather than the desire to break new ground in totally unethical territory.

The advantages of being an older mum

We all know the problems about waiting to have a baby. You're less likely to be fertile if you're too far on the wrong side of 35, fertility treatment isn't as successful if you need it and you're at greater risk of having a miscarriage. A lot is made of that fact that you may find pregnancy physically more demanding than a younger woman, and that you will get more tired. It all sounds distinctly gloomy, so why do statistics show that more and more women are having children later rather than sooner?

In fact, there are some clear advantages for older mothers and their children. Women who wait to get pregnant are often more settled both financially and emotionally. They've often achieved what they want to in their careers and have lived a little. They are less likely to feel the need for an exciting social life or to resent the restraints of life with a baby or small child.

They may have more time for their children, and more patience, and the children of older parents can benefit greatly from this. It's true that physically they may find life with a baby tough, but older mothers are often able to adapt to this. In comparison to their teenage counterparts at the other end of the motherhood age scale, they tend to take better care of themselves, eating more healthily and taking exercise.

Whatever our views on older motherhood, more and more of us are having children later for a variety of reasons, from wanting to achieve things in our careers to waiting for the right partner. There's a great website for older mothers mothers35plus which anyone who wants to know more about the subject should have a look at.