Elizabeth Adeney the 66yr old having a baby. The Sun Telegraph want to know what Mumsnetters think

Nobody has said you should not be able to TTC. The debate is whether medical technology should help you beat nature indefinitley.

you can concieve it though cant you?

Earlyadopter, you talking to me? Its not an overeaction, its a reasonable reaction to someone telling me I should not be allowed to conceive a child over the age of 40! Bloody cheek of it!

I've changed my mind after a 'test of liberalism' discussion with dh

she should be allowed as she paid for it herself. She should not be prevented in any way.

Obviously we still think she shouldn't because she has an increased chance of dying during the formative years.

a friend of mine growing up had a father who was 60 when he was born.
His father died at 78, when we were 18. He always made it clear he thought his dad had made a foolish choice....

god, over reaction or wot!!

cut off at 40????? 45???? I am really shocked that you would infringe on someone's civil liberties to the extent of banning them from getting pregnant at some arbitrary age. I can only assume that none of you who say these things are much over 25.

By that logic we should be banning women from getting pregnant who we believe are unfit mothers too. Who is going to police that?

I am 45 and would love another baby. My partner is 42. Anyone suggest he is too old to father a child?

So, who's going to line up and force me to get sterilised?

I also think( sorry) that kids LIKE younger parents

After the menopause unless suffered from early menopause.

50 would be good as a blanket age for me.

For adoption I do think it should be later as there are so many children requiring fostering or adoption and any family would be better than none even only 10-12 years in a family.

About 50 years old would be the cut-off point for me.

My parents were comparably old in the 1970s when they had my brother & I; my mother died when we were teenagers.

The chances of Elizabeth Adeney dying or becoming dependent while her child is still in their formative years is greatly increased by the sheer fact of her old age.

To lose a parent whilst young is a cruel blow. Her desire for a child is selfish.

I don't think it's wrong for her to have a baby. My own father died at 41, so this ideal of parents and grandparents being a certain age, sort of went out the window for me.

And frankly, I don't think the debate about a specific woman is helpful. The time to have this debate is when fertility legislation/technology is finalized and public consultation is needed.

Further, how does this contribute to the 'pro choice' debate? So, it's OK for a woman to choose abortion, or not, but not to actively choose life? Isn't that what choice is about, as far as being able to make choices about one's fertility (albeit with help)

Making an example of this woman is not the point, but typically tabloid.

I'm uncomfortable with bringing a moral as opposed to medical judgement into who should and who shouldn't be allowed fertility treatment. Or at least, I think people should make their own moral judgements.

I think it is probably wrong to decide to have a child at that age, whether you are a man or a woman. I get the impression there is no father around for this child too, which makes things even more complicated. That is my moral judgement on it. Whether I should be able to impose that on someone else is another matter.

I think a woman who has not got pregnant naturally by 35-40 should be encouraged to seek treatment. I don't understand why anyone needs to wait past about 42 to see if a pregnancy happens naturally tbh.

I haven't read the article but why has she not become pregnant before?

IMO the cut off for IVF, etc, should be 45. IE a natural age that chances of pregnancy become smaller.

Some women seem to want to have it all and then fit in an IVF baby before it really is too late. if you know you want children and haven't conceived by 35-40, then get help. Don't wait until you are 50 and older.

hm, am not sure

i think the cut off should be 50 - 55. most women would be menopausal by then, so that seems to be 'right'

yes, men can father children physically in their 60s & 70s, but again, just because you can ,does not mean you should// but nature clearly thinks otherwise!

also, if these women are are paying for their treatment and are not taking resources out of the NHS for IVF, is that better?

as a society, we have to be careful about saying who can and can't be a parent, so i am really torn, but i do think 66 is elderly to be having a baby. the physical toll it takes on your body is quite high

have a hormonal teenager when you are in your late 70s sounds horrific.

i don;t know, i don;t think there can be a definitive answer to this question as so many grey areas

It's a hard one.

I do hate the way older mothers are slated and the reasons are often fairly spurious:

-not having the energy to play with their children (should people with limited mobility not have babies then?)

-not likely to see their children into adulthood (life expectancy is getting longer and should people with unhealthy lifestyles who may die or need care at a younger age not have children?)

-children might get teased (should people who don't fit the cultural "norm" in other ways not have children?

I'd like to see each case based on merit with possibly some sort of assessment of the potential child's welfare. Something like adoption I suppose (although these women wouldn't be allowed to adopt due to age presumably).

Opps. Very much doubt that the Telegraph will be able to read a word of that. Sorry!

I think there are far more persuasive arguments than age, for not having children.

thumbwitch - ditto. Almost identical circumstances to me.

I think 45 should be the cut off. She is 10 years younger than my Grandmother who I can't imagine would be in any fit state to look after a child full time despite her being in both good physical and mental health.

Sorry, to add the rest of the info asked for:
I think the cutoff for IVF should be pre-menopause if it's normal menopause (i.e. not the really early ones that some poor girls/women have) - but having said that my mum didn't go through menopause until she was 56 and that would have been too late. My point being that if your body has told you there is no hope of a baby now, then you shouldn't artificially create a situation whereby you can have one.

So - I would put a cutoff between 45 and 50.

Men - well, if they can do it naturally why not - but it's still hard on the poor DC to lose either parent when they're still young.

I get the feeling I'm not being totally rational about this but I was cross about the 66 year old.

My mum had be in her forties at a time when that was very rare. As a child I was very aware that my parents were older even though they weee veey youthful ans acrive. Just theie ages on papee was enough to make me really aware i was more likely to lose them. Other kids went to their grandparents 50th, i went to my mum's and thought to myself that like a granny she might die before i grew up. It became quite an obsession.

By the timw i was 25 i had lost both my parents and all mt grandparents. This was partly bad luck but also a consequence of the advanced age at which my parenrs choae to have me. Like many children of older parents,& ceetainly those receiving fertility treatment, i am an only child. As a result i now have no living family other than my husband and kids.

Obviously I do not regret my parents' decision to have me but had they been even older I would have worried more, stood put more and been left all alone at an even younger age. Therefore I do think having a parent in your 60s is selfish. Your are having a child in the knowledge thfy are very likely to suffer the worst loss at a formative age. If it happens my accident that is one thing but the medical profession should not encourage it after approx 50 years of age.

Hmm, I think the cut off should probably be as nature intended. So, mid 40s'. For both men and women really. Gives you enough time, usually, to raise them to adulthood.

Does she have a partner?
I don't think you can necessarily compare this with older men who have babies with younger women unless she has a younger partner who is likely to stick around.