She's 61 and just had a baby in February--her daughter's. And that baby would actually be the new mother's own grandson. It's a birth that's made possibly by in vitro fertilization and sets a Chicago, Illinois, record for the oldest woman to give birth in the "Windy City".
A 61-year-old Chicago mom has beat all previous records, setting a new one -- as the oldest female in Chicago's city history to birth a newborn. It's all gone down at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the medical facility in Illinois that's been overseeing the prenatal process and subsequent February 11, 2011, delivery of Finnean Lee Connell. And it's all even far stranger than it sounds.
Not only is the woman the oldest to give birth earlier this year, she gave birth on 'behalf' of her daughter -- making the 61-year-old's baby, technically, her own grandson.
The woman chose to act as a surrogate mother for her daughter -- 35-year-old Sara Connell -- who had tried for years to have a baby but had been unsuccessful. The younger Connell and her senior mother, Kristine Casey, made a decision to do it together. Docs in Illinois apparently had no ethical objections to the 61-year-old having a baby -- after a thorough medical and psych evaluation.
Of course doctors are always interested in "firsts" and something new: "The surgery itself was uncomplicated, and the emotional context of this delivery was so profound," claims Dr. Susan Gerber, obstetrician and maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Nothing is flawless: After delivery of the new baby, the 61-year-old experienced some difficulty with her kidneys that had to be treated by Chicago physicians. It's all part of getting older -- combined with doing things meant for the younger.
Before the February 2011 birth of her grandson, it had been 30 years since the 61-year-old had last given birth to her daughter. That delivery was at age 30. But don't be distressed: Modern fertility drugs and in vitro fertilization aided the process and made it all possible, allowing the older woman to successfully become impregnated with her daughter and son-in-law’s sperm and egg.
The 61-year-old gave birth via C-Section -- and, of course, there's some jokes about the gratitude of doctors and the decision for cesarean section versus vaginal delivery.