World's Oldest Mother, 70, is Dying with Baby at Her Side

World's Oldest Mother, 70, is Dying with Baby at Her Side

www.dailymail.co.uk

The world's oldest mother is dying just 18 months after giving birth at the age of 70.

Mrs Lohan, now 72, and her husband Balla, 73, are poverty- stricken farmers from the village of Alewa in Haryana state, north of Delhi.
After nearly 54 years of marriage they were desperate to have a child so took out loans to pay for the £2,000 IVF treatment.

'The doctor never warned me it was dangerous to have a baby at my age. But I was healthy before, and now I am very sick.'

(visit the link for the full news article)

Is it just me or is there something very odd about the Indian medical establishment forking over IVF treatments to impoverished farmers in a country whose population is over a billion, the second largest (and arguably poorest) population on Earth after China's?

Hm. Not telling the woman that conceiving and giving birth at her advanced age would probably kill her is bad enough — but allowing this little baby to enter a world of inescapable poverty when they knew her parents would probably be dead, anyway, by the time she was a teenager... There's just something unconscionably cruel about rendering such a service simply to make money off the poor.

Then, again, maybe I'm just getting sentimental in my old age...

— Doc Velocity

www.dailymail.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Here's the important part of the article:

"to pay for the £2,000 IVF treatment."

The doctors should not be allowed to continue this abuse.

It's as f....ed-up a story as I have read, lately.

Human stupidity is limitless.

there is a story in the British media today of a 66 year old woman in India who gave birth to triplets through IVF yesterday.

I am not sure but isn't there religious and societal implications in Indian culture from not having nor being able to conceive which is why people are so desperate at any age to do so and undertake dangerous IVF at any cost (financial and medical)?

Good greif. I guess I don't understand the culture, but aren't there a lot of orphans in India they could have adopted?

Those Dr.'s have no conscience, if they will take money to impregate a woman who is 70!

Even the Aunt, who is now 60 will be too old to care for this child, should both her parents pass away!

I understand that the Dr's appear unethical to us and could be accused of exploitation but I would not be surprised if they felt in some cases that they were serving a higher religious purpose.

The Indians are also obsessed with setting world records.

www.google.com... oXTIWvFJ-yMZX6pcIKAAAAqgQFT9Bz1-o



[edit on 2010/6/15 by GradyPhilpott]

'Even though Rajo's health is deteriorating, at least she will die in peace,' he said. 'She does not have to face the stigma of being barren.'

That quote strikes me as saying that she had absolutely no value to society until she had a child, which I think is wrong. I feel bad for the little girl, too, because she will probably never know her parents.

If they are so impoverished, how did they get a loan like that? I would think that they would have to put up some type of collateral or something in the event that they could not pay off their loan. Would they have anything that would be valued that much? Or are loans completely different in India?

Originally posted by riddle6


If they are so impoverished, how did they get a loan like that? I would think that they would have to put up some type of collateral or something in the event that they could not pay off their loan. Would they have anything that would be valued that much? Or are loans completely different in India?

What a horrible thought I just had. I hope the child isn't collateral!

WRONG WRONG WRONG!!

They can't support their existing population, WHY do they think it's a good idea to fund ELDERLY people having IVF TREATMENTS?! This is just INSANE by anyone's standards... Even getting past the whole "no-one should be denied the right to experience raising a child" idea, there needs to be a cut off age because who do they think will raise and support the child once the parents die? Realistically, these people are not likely to see their child reach their teenage years let alone adulthood.

reply to post by Blanca Rose

I had the exact same thought.

Now, has anyone looked into child sex trade in India?

What's this girls future coming from such an impoverished family?

It looks bad...

reply to post by Blanca Rose


reply to post by LadySkadi


I had the thought as well, but I didn't want to type it out. Did the story ever say where they got the loan from? Because if it wasn't a bank, then that opens the (sad) possibilities in my mind. Assuming that the banking/loan system is similar in India as it is in the US, of course.

This is really F'd up

What is wrong with those doctors out there ? They should never be allowed to practice medicine.

Mrs Lohan's doctor Anurag Bishnoi denied her illness was linked to her pregnancy.

'Even though Rajo's health is deteriorating, at least she will die in peace,' he said. 'She does not have to face the stigma of being barren.'

'She had an ovarian cyst that was causing her problems but that has now been removed. The IVF treatment is completely safe. Rajo is an old woman and her life expectancy was only about five to seven years.'

He admits to knowing that she was only expected to live another 5-7 years and he still went ahead with the IVF, the man has no morals at all

He could give a crap about that little girl who will grow up without her mother, and probably without her father too, probably in abject poverty as long as he gets the recognition for being the doctor that succeeded in making her the oldest mother. Disgusting, this makes me sick.

But she has no regrets, saying: 'I dreamed about having a child all my life. It does not matter to me that I am ill, because at least I lived long enough to become a mother.

A mother in name only, she cares more about dying stigma free than about her daughter being left without a mother.


I just don't understand a culture like that.

reply to post by Doc Velocity

Oh well...if we knew the debth of our own past ( ancestoral history ) we
might wonder how we managed to get here.
I hope the baby embraces life and does not disdain it and find fault with
every aspect of its existence. By its very nature, the privilage ???
of getting to live a life on this old earth with its tragic history usually carries some kind of price.

Then, again, you're looking at the contemporary "rescue process" in action... This pathetic story is going global, and I have no doubt that some wealthy benefactor will bail them out on the strength of the publicity alone... Don't be surprised if a savior like Madonna or Angelina Jolie comes sauntering into the picture at some point.

Hell, Hollywood and Ballywood could turn the child's life around in short order — but which is worse, the degradation of poverty or the decadence of fame?

— Doc Velocity