For the love of kids

New Zealand's oldest mother, Lyn Mason, and her husband Ian tell Denise Irvine how they cope with their young family and other people's curiosity.

It's a few days before Celine Mason's birthday, and when asked what she'd like as a present, she replies promptly, "a little pony".

This is not of the four-legged, ride-on variety, but the brand of My Little Pony toys popular with girls, and Celine would like to add another one to her collection. She fishes in the toy cupboard and shows some of her favourites.

Big brother Dean, 8, had his birthday in July, and he got a Star Wars Lego set that he's obviously had hours of pleasure from.

Both the Mason kids have a light sabre, and they've recently been to a dress-up Star Wars disco at Hukanui Primary. "Some big people were dressed up in Star Wars costumes," says Dean. "They looked real."

Dean and Celine cuddle up to their mother Lyn for a photograph in their pleasant home in Hamilton's northern suburbs. The years since they were born seemed to have flashed by, and yesterday Celine celebrated her sixth birthday. There's nothing particularly remarkable about that. Except that Lyn was 55 when she gave birth to her daughter, and 53 when she had Dean.

Lyn made history as New Zealand's oldest mother, and both children were conceived by in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), with their father Ian's sperm and donor eggs from a family friend. Although several women overseas have been reported to have given birth in their 50s, 60s and 70s, to the best of everyone's knowledge, Lyn holds the New Zealand record.

Read more: http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/features/waikato-focus/4219850/For-the-love-of-kids

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Almost 50 and I Want to Get Pregnant

As I checked out a tall, slim man in his thirties with salt and pepper hair at a Greenwich Village party, a lady astrologist a couple of years older than moi looked my way and said, "When we get to this age, we lose interest in men." I assume she believed I would agree with her reading of the situation, but I, a divorced, almost forty-nine-year old Jewish female from New York City, still have a seventy-year-old aunt who dates. I also contemplated how we women "peak" sexually in our forties, but I am one year away from, gulp, fifty. And the thing is, I want to be pregnant again. I already have an amazing twenty-three-year-old son, but I want a repeat performance.

Yes; even as most women my age throw in the hormonal towel, I find myself looking at guys much the way Samantha would in Sex In The City, sizing up men between 25 and 45 at the supermarket, the mall, the ballgame. Only I’m not looking for potential lovers, I’m looking for a baby daddy. Blue eyes or brown, balding or Kennedy-esque — I try to gaze right through their skin to see their very DNA.

My friends think I am off my rocker, that I should enjoy the empty nest and not make a syndrome out of it. They’re in the been-there/done-that phase, and those still interested in men go for the immediate gratification relationships and have no desire for long-term proposals. Not one friend will admit that maybe my pregnancy desires might be something she feels, too.

Read more: http://www.babble.com/pregnancy/conception/want-to-get-pregnant-at-50/

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Karen Johnston, 54, gave birth to twins

'I went through the menopause six years ago and was too old for fertility treatment in the UK '

Karen Johnston, 54, gave birth to twins Asa and Imogen 13 weeks prematurely in March. She lives in Bicester, Oxfordshire, with husband Roger, 55, a former Army sergeant who now works for a car manufacturer. The couple have eight other children — Daniel, 33, Jemma, 28, Scott, 27, Amy, 26, Aiden, 17, Bethany, 14, Joseph, 13, and Willow, two. Karen says:

Having had children in my 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s, I honestly think the best age is your 30s.

In my 20s I felt torn between my children and wanting to socialise and have fun, but once I got to my mid-30s and beyond I became more relaxed and patient and didn’t care about nights out any more.

All I’ve ever wanted is lots of babies. But had I looked like an old lady and been in poor health there’s no way I’d have continued having them into my 50s.

For your children’s sake you’ve got to have the energy and good health to do all the things that younger mums do with their kids.

I don’t feel any different to when I was in my 30s — just 3st heavier.

I had my first baby with Roger when I was 20, but I think that’s too young now and I’d be mortified if any of my children had babies at that age — my first grandchild was born to my eldest son, 33, this month.

In my generation girls left school, got a little job, then got married and had children.

But the younger generation today have so many opportunities to travel and have fun, they should enjoy themselves and mature before having kids.

I suffered three miscarriages after my fourth child, Amy, before then ­having Aiden, Bethany and Joseph. Two more miscarriages followed and we decided to stop trying.

I went through the menopause six years ago and was too old for fertility treatment in the UK.

But in 2007 I read about a 63-year-old British woman having fertility treatment abroad and my broodiness returned.

So Roger and I flew to the Czech Republic for IVF using donor eggs and conceived Willow. We did the same last year to conceive Imogen and Asa, at a total cost of £6,000 for the two separate treatments.

Before we went for fertility treatment I calculated that I should have at least 25 years of my life left to raise and care for another child, and since Roger and I had the money and support network to make it possible I thought, why not go for it?

Whatever happens I know I have a loving, strong family who will be there for each other. I wouldn’t change anything for the world.

My babies keep me young and I’ve got the advantage of three teenagers to help.

Having children is a privilege and it gives me a sense of purpose.

There have been people over the years who’ve told me I should stop trying for more children, which made me angry. I couldn’t help my maternal feelings, though I almost died when I had the twins seven months ago.

They had to be induced three months early when I developed pre-eclampsia — a complication that can be dangerous to both mum and baby.

I wouldn’t recommend that women choose to wait until my age to have children. If they’ve met the right person I’d urge them to get on with it in their 30s.

We won’t be having any more. The twins were the perfect way to bow out of childbirth.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1318368/New-mothers-aged-19-54-From-contraception-failure-IVF.html#ixzz11ygja6Jg

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Mandy Parry, 46, 7 cycles of IVF, 5 attempts at donor egg insemination

'We followed seven cycles of IVF and five attempts at donor egg insemination'

Mandy Parry, 46, is a teacher and lives in Bristol with husband Mark, 47, a community safety officer, and their five-month-old daughter Violet. Mandy says:

Having been through seven years of gruelling, heartbreaking fertility treatment, I’d urge any women thinking about delaying motherhood not to, for their own sakes.

I’d have loved children in my early 30s but I didn’t meet the right man, Mark, until I was 39.

When we started trying for a family six months later I kept miscarrying and discovered that my eggs were no longer healthy.

Then followed seven cycles of IVF and five attempts at donor egg insemination in South Africa before I finally had Violet in May this year.

We spent £50,000 — the equity from the house I sold when I met Mark and moved in with him — and it was emotionally and physically draining.

It was scary finding out I was ­pregnant last year, because I’d been pregnant four times before and lost all of them in the first three months.

I spent the whole pregnancy waiting for something bad to happen.

Mark has three children from his first marriage, but he wanted a baby as much as I did.

It’s weird to think that when he was a father of three in his 20s, I was young, free, single and partying in London. With hindsight, he feels he was too young to truly appreciate his children then.

The advantage of having a baby at 46 is that I’ve got the support of a ­wonderful, mature man. We’re financially secure and feel safe and stable in our marriage.

I don’t worry about being an older mum in terms of being around for her future. My dad was 44 when I was born and mum was 36, so I grew up with older parents. And I’ve got as much energy as any other mum.

I’ve got a few friends who feel it’s immoral to have a baby in your late 40s, but they know how much I’d have loved to have had a child years ago and what a battle we’ve been through to have Violet.

Whether we’ll have another child is a sore point. Mark thinks we should count our blessings, but we’ve got seven more embryos in South Africa that we’ve paid for, so the temptation for me is to try for another baby.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1318368/New-mothers-aged-19-54-From-contraception-failure-IVF.html#ixzz11yfXPlNO

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