A Chinese couple lost their only child four years ago in a traffic accident and decided to have another due to In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), despite their advanced age.
Now Mrs. Zhen, 67, is expecting twins and has become the oldest pregnant woman. Although doctors advise her to abort for the risks that pregnancy and childbirth imply for her health, she refuses.
The treatment took place in Taiwan, the only place where they agreed to facilitate pregnancy. And we ask ourselves: Is a pregnancy at such a late age safe? Is it ethical for a baby that will surely not be raised by his parents? We will try to answer them.
Elderly pregnancy
The World Health Organization (WHO) places the safest age to conceive between 20 and 24 years. And he speaks of pregnancies from 35 as "medium risk". In fact, experts agree that the best biological age to be a mother is 25 years.
Even so, women increasingly delay the age of conceiving. The National Statistics Institute (INE) says it, which places the average maternity age in Spain in 2017 at 32.1 years, one tenth more than the previous year and 2 more than in 2016, which indicates a tendency to postpone more and more the birth rate.
The causes? The lack of economic stability, social changes, the incorporation of women into the labor market seem to be behind the fact that the time that a couple chooses to become parents is increasingly delayed. And all this together with advances in IVF treatments and greater life expectancy: we live longer and with better quality.
Risks of being a mother after 40
But apart from the difficulty in conceiving as the years progress, Age also greatly influences the risks during pregnancy and childbirth. Giving birth to a child who is 35 years old increases the chances of complications during pregnancy, of risk of abortion and of chromosomal abnormalities in the baby.
And after 40 years, health conditions worsen during pregnancy. Pregnancy generates a major overload in organs such as the pancreas, liver, etc., increasing the possibility of suffering diseases that affect pregnancy such as gestational diabetes, hypertension or hemorrhages.
In fact, the Spanish Public Health sets the limit at 40 years, to subject a woman to fertility treatment. But couples who want to be parents can do so in more than 200 existing private clinics.
But in Spain, the assisted reproduction law does not impose any restrictions so that women can be mothers at the age they want. It is the professionals themselves who set the limits and their general recommendation is that the 50s barrier is not exceeded. There are always exceptions.
But the risks are not only for mothers, but also for babies. In addition to premature birth and low birth weight, a study from the Sanitas La Zarzuela University Hospital (Madrid) concluded that:
"Pregnant women over 40 are six times more likely to have a child with chromosomal abnormalities (6%) and structural malformations than the general population (1%)."
The research also showed that structural malformations multiply and go from 2.5% to 3.7%. In addition, 34% have presented combined high-risk screening, and one tenth chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus, of which 6% suffered from Down syndrome.
Other research published in the 'Journal of Perinatal Medicine' pointed out that abnormal placentation and over 40 years are some of the causes of uterine rupture.
And the risks are even greater in case of twin pregnancy, which due to its many specialties in Spain is treated in a high-risk obstetric unit. The chances of the delivery going forward are multiplied by seven, because babies press on the lower part of the womb and it can be opened early. The normal duration of these gestations is 35 weeks.
There is also a higher risk of hypertension and preeclampsia and, although very rare, the lack of growth of one of the babies and of feto-fetal transfusion syndrome (TFF). It occurs when a baby pumps blood to the placenta of his brother, so that one receives a lot and the other a little, which can cause heart failure in the first, and anemia in the second.
For all these health problems, it is important that mothers seriously consider whether it is good to be a mother at such an advanced age, even if science allows it. But in addition, there is another ethical reason that is equally important: who will take care of these children when their parents die?
Son of older parents: who takes care of them?
This Chinese woman rained criticism precisely because of the folly involved in caring for young children at such an advanced age. In fact, although there is no age limit for maternity in China, the Beijing Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission has informed hospitals and doctors in the city that they should not provide medical care without first consulting with the authorities.
And the couple has defended themselves against the accusations explaining that they had no more offspring because of the policy of the only child in China almost 40 years ago, the age of their deceased son in a traffic accident with 34 years.
In addition, the future mother says she can live up to 85 years to see her children reach adulthood, but if she does not comment that a nephew of his, who is now 40 years old, would take care of them.
And although Mrs. Zhang has become the world's grandmother to get pregnant, she is not the only one. Here in Spain, we have a not too old case of the Galician mother with 62 years. And there are more examples.
Let us keep two questions: What can be done to defend the rights of a child who has not yet been born and has not chosen to do so? Should we limit the age to be mothers?
Via EFE
Photos iStock
In Babies and More "Never give up": she has managed to be a mother at 65 after trying all her life, the fifth was the charm! They had quintuplets after undergoing five fertility treatments,
