World's oldest mum dies

[PuppyMonkey]

Just saw this on Sky...

news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Carmen-Bousada-Worlds-Oldest-Mother-Dies-From-Cancer-Leaving-Tw ins-Aged-Two-Behind/Article/200907315338955?lpos=WorldNewsFirstHomeArticleTeaserRegion2&lid=A RTICLE15338955CarmenBousada%2CWorldsOldestMother%2CDiesFromCancerLeavingTwinsAgedTwoBe hind

Having done egg donation and OHSS as a result of that I'd agree with you that it's not a route they should go down in terms of actual cold cash.
But women who struggle to conceive would sell you an arm if that's all that stood between them and another chance at IVF and I do feel they are taken advantage of even within the NHS, we're not that far away from it.

yes....that is why it shouldn't be a monetary thing....than twisting arms would be not very likely

Several posters have made the point that it was 'unlucky' that the mother died of cancer, could have happened to a younger woman etc.

I'm not sure it was just luck of the draw. I haven't read the Sky News story, I read about this elsewhere. In that version a doctor commented that the drugs used to stimulate her womb may also have stimulated precancerous cells - in effect, her pregnancy may have been the reason she got cancer. I wonder if she - or the doctors who treated her - had taken this possibility into account.

Apparently her mother lived to 101 so she probably thought she could last out until her children reached adulthood.

Actually, that's a good point WYLI. A family member who had breast cancer was told HRT would have worsened it. I did wonder about the effects of having extra hormones at this age.

Whilst you can get terminal cancer at any age a woman of that age was incredibly selfish to have children. Let's face it the twins were always going to be orphaned sooner than if their mother was 30!

Suppose you live in Swaziland. Female life expectancy there at birth is 39.4 (thank you Wikipedia). It would still be physically possible for some surviving women to have babies at, say 43.

One could argue that the chances of a Swaziland woman of 43 surviving to take care of her children are lower than were the chances of Ms. Bousada surviving to care for her children.

What about a woman with a life limiting illness who nonetheless goes on to have a child?

I don't think that "low survivability" makes it unethical to have a child. Thing is, we are all going to die, and we don't know exactly when, whatever age we are.

AS regards "mother nature gave us the menopause, therefore it is ordained we must have babies early", that is a daft argument! Mother nature gave us fertility that is difficult to control, excruciating pain in childbirth, pelvises in which babies get stuck etc. We invented contraception, analgesia, Caesarian sections etc. You stick with mother nature and shun science if you like, I'll take the medical interventions if they are going to make life bearable/possible for me and mine!

I don't think she should be excused from others having an opinion Expat.Like I said, her actions are questionable.

But whose to say that the way many babies come into the world are not more questionable. If people get exploited for anything in the world, this is the reason. I'm not saying it's 'right', but its what it all comes down to in the end.

I really don? think it?s fair to equate egg donation with prostitution. Actually, in evolutionary terms, its fantastic for the donor. She gets to have more children and other people bring them up. She gets to spread her seed around, just like the fellas. There are risks (trade offs) that you have to balance the pros with, but we do that with everything. In comparison, in prostitution, a woman gets money (which will help her feed and clothe her kids, but it won?t give her more kids than egg donation).

The women who donate (poor or no) are adults and they are cogent enough to way up the pros and cons ? long term consequences, etc. Why shouldn?t women go down that route for ?cold cash? if it helps them improve their, their kids or their loved ones lives?

Mother nature did give us menopause. It also gave us the brains to create IVF, etc.

campion thanks for clarifying - glad you didn't mean that!

FLRAL - you are statistically much more likely to get many illnesses at an older age than younger. So although young women can die of disease too, as well as older women, the risks aren't anywhere near equal. I doubt there are any factors to cancel that out - e.g. older women much less likely to die from accidents or suicide than younger.
PLus I don't think it's a gradual trend but goes up sharply at about 50ish.