On the outset, it is a story of joy, and happiness... a senior couple who lost their only son becoming parents once again thanks to In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF). 65-year-old Jagdish Meena and his wife Chameli Meena were left devastated after the sudden death of their only son in 2015.
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Last year, the couple decided to go for IVF and Chameli gave birth to a healthy baby boy in March this year. "We undergo health check-ups every six months to keep ourselves healthy and available to the child through his growing years," Jagdish Meena told The Times of India.
At 64 Chameli is not the oldest to become a mother through IVF. The record is held by Daljinder Kaur, who became a mother in 2016 at the age of 72.
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According to the doctors, it is not unusual for them to have 'elderly' patients.
Dr Anoop Gupta, director of the Delhi IVF and Fertility Centre where Chameli underwent IVF treatment, said they had conducted the procedure on at least 20-25 women aged above 50 in the last five years.?
AFP
But many have raised questions of medical ethics and most importantly the future of the baby, especially given the age of the couple.
"By the time the children are in their 20s, the parents may die or become too old to care for them," Dr Kamini Rao, founder of Milann IVF told The Times of India.
Even though currently there are no set cap on the maxim age of people to undergo IVF treatment, many doctors and clinics say they don't encourage the procedure if the patients are above 50.
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Fertility experts say the human body is not supposed to reproduce at 50. They also point out the risk of maternal mortality is very high among older women undergoing IVF.
In the case of Daljinder too, many had questioned the ethics behind the record-setting achievement.
AFP
According to the Indian Council of Medical Registry (ICMR), the combined age of a couple aspiring for a child through in vitro fertilization should not exceed 100 years. But these guidelines are not binding and as evident in most of the cases are not practiced.