There is a phrase that says, “Love knows no age.” However, in order to have children, there must be one due to the well-known “biological clock.” She was a woman in India, but she had other ideas. After 54 years of marriage, and at the age of 70, she gave birth for the first time. They are one of the most ancient human couples to have given birth.
It took place in Rajasthan, an Indian state. Gopichand, 75, and his wife Chandravati, 70, had long struggled to conceive but were unsuccessful. They spent years going to numerous hospitals and clinics, getting various therapies, but nothing helped.
About a year and a half ago, the husband went to an ɪɴ ᴠɪᴛʀᴏ ꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ (I.V.F) clinic in Alwar to see if his wife could finally get pregnant. The woman’s advanced age was a cause for concern, but there had been previous success stories, such as that of Jivuben Valabhai Rabari, another 70-year-old woman from rural Gujarat, who made headlines last year when she gave birth to a healthy baby after two failed ɪɴ ᴠɪᴛʀᴏ ꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ procedures.
“Chandravati was able to ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇɪᴠᴇ nine months ago on the third attempt through I.V.F. Although there was happiness, there was also an element of fear due to the advanced age of her mother. But finally, on Monday, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy,” said I.V.F expert Dr. Pankaj Gupta.
The proud father, a former soldier ɪɴᴊᴜʀᴇᴅ in the leg during the Bᴀɴɢʟᴀᴅᴇsʜ ᴡᴀʀ, could not contain the joy of holding his son for the first time. He told reporters that he was happy to be able to pass on the family name to him, as he was the only son of his father. They had been trying to have a baby since 1968 – more than 54 years!
“There are only a few cases of children being born at this age,” Dr. Gupta said. “This is probably the first case in Rajasthan where a 75-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman have a child.”
Interestingly, Gopichand and Chandravati Devi may be the last Indians to become parents through I.V.F, as a new law that came into ꜰᴏʀᴄᴇ in July this year ᴘʀᴏʜɪʙɪᴛs IVF ɪɴꜰᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ centers from providing treatment to women and men older than 50 years. They were lucky to have ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇɪᴠᴇᴅ the baby before the law went into effect.
The oldest woman to give birth in history is also from India: in 2019, 74-year-old Mangayamma gave birth to two healthy twin girls after an I.V.F procedure.