How old is too old? Grandmother, 50, falls pregnant with quadruplets

A UK grandmother has sparked debate after announcing she is set to become the country’s oldest mother of quadruplets.

The 50-year-old woman, who already has three adult children and eight grandchildren, is expecting four new bundles of joy after falling pregnant through IVF, The Sun reports.

Tracey Britten told the publication she was desperate to have more children and isn’t fazed by peoples opinions and judgement. Instead, she’s excited to welcome three baby girls and one baby boy to the family with her husband, Stephen.

“People have said, ‘you’re a gran having kids’. Well, so what? I won’t be the first and I won’t be the last,” Tracey said. 

“I don’t look 50 and I don’t feel 50. People can say what they want. They don’t know my story.”

Falling pregnant later in life is a growing trend, with women across the world choosing to have more kids when their adult children are well into their 30s or 40s.

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Vital Statistics Report, in America alone a total 677 women over the age of 50 gave birth in 2013. And of these women around a third welcomed their first child.

Read more:Too old to have a child: The ‘right’ age to be a mum is a tricky one

While in Australia the number of mothers aged 35 and over continues to increase, with a report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare indicating a rise from 20 per cent in 2005 to 22 per cent in 2015. At the same time the number of mothers under the age of 25 decreased from 19 per cent to 15 per cent.

It is clear times are changing for a multitude of reasons, whether it be because of financial pressure or the dream of travelling before children. But the increase in older parents raises and interesting question: how old is too old to have a baby?

In 2016, a 62-year-old Tasmanian woman became Australia’s oldest mother, after giving birth to a daughter conceived through IVF with her 78-year-old partner.

Another mother, Anthea Nicholas, made headlines in 2011, after giving birth to her son at the age of 50, having fallen pregnant naturally.

Then there was 51-year-old Gold Coast woman Lynn Cooper who last year gave birth to her fifth child, 30 years after having her first.

According to news.com.au, the grandmother ended up falling pregnant using her own eggs, after much difficulty trying to find a doctor willing to provide IVF treatment due to her age.

What are your thoughts? How old do you think is too old to have a baby?