60-year-old Woman Gives Birth to Twins
This is the kind of crazy headline that, years ago, you'd find in one of those tabloids that specialized in freaky news. But now, thanks to all kinds of new medical advances, we're seeing more and more stories like this.
The 60-year-old woman has been married for 38 years, has two grown children, and a six-year-old. She and her husband thought their younger child needed siblings close in age...so rather than adopt, they decided to have IVF (and donor eggs, no doubt...though the story doesn't say so.)
I know this story is going to provoke the usual tsking from people. And I can't imagine doing what this couple is doing, but there are plenty of 60-year-olds raising their children's children and doing a fine job, too.
For me, what's interesting about this much-later-in-life-parenthood story is it is one more indication of how families are being redefined. In fact, the very same day, there were stories about Vice President Cheney's daughter, Mary, who gave birth to a child she plans to raise with her long-time lesbian partner. (No one is saying who is the genetic father of the baby.)
Of course, there are some who are up in arms about gay couples (and there is the hypocrisy of Cheney being part of an administration that wanted to ban gay marriage). These kinds of objections (or backlashes, depending on your point of view) always occur whenever there is rapid social change. But the trend is clear: new technology is helping to change and broaden the old, traditional notions of what a family should look like.
And to most of us, that tolerance and openness is a very good thing--even if we don't want to pursue parenthood when we get our AARP cards.
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posted by pam at 11:07 AM
1 Comments:
You are on the money!! Couldn't agree more!
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