70-yr-old woman gives birth to child after 54 yrs of marriage

A pensioner has given birth to her first child after she has been married for 54 years.

Chandravati, from Rajasthan, India, gave birth to a 7lb 7oz baby earlier this week.

Now 70, Chandravati and her husband welcomed their first child after a successful round of in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

They had been trying for a child since 1968, when Richard Nixon became president and humans had not yet made it not onto the moon.

Overjoyed father Gopichand, 75, said: "Tears of happiness have come out of Chandravati's eyes time and time again.

“Now, [IVF babies] have to become equal to everyone in the world.”

Gopichand was shot in the leg as a soldier, leading to a reported injury that made it difficult for the couple to have children.

Mum and baby are said to be doing well, according to local media reports.

The couple tried for five decades to conceive and visited doctors regularly.

They approached the fertility centre through a relative and managed to conceive on their third round of IVF.

Despite being delighted they were finally able to conceive, they admit to having some reservations about having a baby at such an unusual age.

In 2019, Erramatti Mangayamma from India was crowned the oldest living person in the world to give birth after having twins aged 74.

The New Indian Express also reports that the couple got there in the nick of time, as new laws that came into effect from June 2022 means "no IVF infertility centre will be able to provide treatment to women and men above 50 years."

IVF expert Dr. Pankaj Gupta said: "There are only a few cases of children being born at this age across the country.

"This is probably the first case of Rajasthan when a 75-year-old man and 70-year-old woman have got a child"

In the UK, the NHS recommends that IVF should be offered to women under the age of 43 who have been trying to get pregnant through over two years of unprotected sex.

Those who are not eligible for IVF treatment can still seek options at private clinics, but these are expensive and can limit people and couples in their desire to conceive a child.

Chandravati and Gopichand appear to have beaten all the odds in their attempt to conceive. IVF treatment, the NHS says, is only 32% effective for women under 35.

For women over the age of 44, the number is as low as 4%. _Agencies