The debate on late motherhood through the Assisted Reproductive Technique
has been going on even as the ART Bill is pending before Parliament

RAJO Devi, a resident of Hisar in Haryana, is an unusual mother. Rajo became a proud mother on November 28, 2008. She is 70 years old and her husband Bala Ram is 72. And the much-wished-for baby girl was conceived after extensive IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) treatment.

Although the couple didn't intend to create any records with the birth of their first child, they have nonetheless become the oldest couple in the world to have had a baby. Of course, the parents were ecstatic at the birth of little Naveen after 55 years of marriage. But they were also happy that they have, to an extent, been able to erase the social stigma that is attached to being parents at an old age.

"It is amazing to be a mother," is what the septuagenarian mom had to say when she lifted the newborn in her arms. Encouraged by having successfully become a mother so late in life, Rajo and Bala Ram now want to try for a son.

According to media reports, Dr Anurag Bishnoi, who helped the couple conceive and deliver the first baby, has assured them that "the process of second child shouldn't be a problem as Rajo doesn't have a history of diabetes, hypertension or any heart ailment."

The relationship between a young mother and her child is special. It is heart-warming to see mothers running around their toddlers, feeding, pampering or playing with them. But aren't there any adverse consequences - medical and social - of bearing a child at an advanced age?

"Who are we to talk about ethics and morals?" asks Dr Indira Hinduja, well-known gynaecologist, who helped deliver the first child by IVF method in Mumbai, way back in 1984. "We talk, discuss all the pros and cons with the patient when they come seeking help from us. But the social stigma of being childless in India is great. A child brings in a sort of respect to a couple, especially the woman. Which is why couples go all out to have a child of their own," she explains.

Hinduja has helped a 57-year-old and a 61-year-old conceive and deliver babies. She revealed that the first woman had married late — at 52 — after completing her family responsibilities of bringing up her siblings following the death of her parents. As both she and her husband wanted to have a child of their own, they opted for the Assisted Reproductive Technique (ART). Today, they have a healthy and happy six-year-old daughter.

In the case of the woman, who was 61, it was her second marriage. She didn't have any children from her first marriage. She and her husband decided to go in for IVF because they wanted a child of their own.

Commenting on Rajo Devi's situation, Dr Duru Shah, the renowned Mumbai-based gynaecologist, says, "At 70, the pregnancy isn't safe. Even if the mother has sound health, how will it affect her when she is lactating? And medically speaking, she isn't the genetic mother of that baby since, at that age, she is unable to produce eggs and so, naturally, the eggs come from a donor. And for all you know, even her 72-year-old husband may not have viable sperms. Even the sperms to fertilise a borrowed eggs may be borrowed."

The oldest woman Shah has helped conceive is a 48-year-old. "Given the present situation of women marrying late and postponing child-bearing to boost their career, I would say the IVF method can be an option for women until the age of 50 but not beyond that," says Shah.

As women enter menopause there is an increased risk in developing cardiovascular disease, along with high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity. There is also reduced muscular movement besides developing osteoporosis.

Child psychiatrist Dr Pervin Dadachanji says, "The child-parent relationship issue isn't a problem as children adapt very well to any situation but the problem comes from society at large. Kids willingly accept that their parents are different but it is the inter-relationship with larger society, which becomes an issue. Even a 20-plus mother is addressed as someone belonging to the past generation ... So, what would a 60-plus mother, who is two or three generations behind, be seen as? Also remember that the entire thought process changes from generation to generation."

The debate on late motherhood by ART methods has been going on for some years now. But at present, in India, there is no legislation to prevent anyone from becoming a mother at any age. But that may change: the Assisted Reproductive Technologies, or ART (Regulation) Bill is pending before Parliament.

According to reports, Pushpa M. Bhargava, founder-director of the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and one of the authors of the proposed legislation, was quoted as saying, "The Bill is almost final now after several rounds of discussions with the stakeholders and general public. Having prepared a set of rules and regulations, we hope (for) an early notification of the same if it gets through Parliament."

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are nearly 13-19 million infertile couples in India and approximately eight per cent of them opt for medical intervention involving the use of ART to bear a child. To cater to the desire of these couples an estimated 200,000 IVF clinics have mushroomed in the country. The treatment costs anywhere between Rs 1,50,000 and Rs 10,00,000 per child (US$1=Rs 48.7).

Hinduja welcomes the ART Bill. She says, "It will give us proper guidelines." But adds, "We all know that many villagers, people of older generation and the poor, guess their birth dates and the birth certificates bear these wrong dates. So, how can one prove the authenticity of such birth certificates?"

Observes Shah, "The only way to ensure good mother-child health is to change the social mindset. Society should learn not to attach any stigma to a childless woman." — WFS

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