65 Years Old and Pregnant With Quads

Annegret Raunigk will become the oldest mother of quadruplets ever when the children are born this summer. She already has 13 children and seven grandchildren.

 

Annegret Raunigk is 65 years old and pregnant with quadruplets, according to German publication Bild.
If all goes well during the pregnancy, Raunigk will become the oldest mother of quadruplets ever when the children are born this summer.

“After the doctor discovered there were four, I had to give it some thought to begin with,” Raunigk is quoted saying in Bild.

Raunigk already has 13 children, which range from 44 years old to nine, and seven grandchildren. She decided to attempt artificial insemination after her nine year-old daughter wanted a sibling, according to Germany’s broadcast channel RTL.

Also according to RTL, Raunigk has been going through in vitro fertilization treatments for the past year and a half. The network hopes to follow her through the pregnancy plans to air an interview with her Monday night.

This not Raunigk’s first time in the spotlight. She made headlines at age 55 for the pregnancy of her 13^th child.

“At first, I only wanted one child. Not all were planned. But then things happen. I'm not a planner but rather spontaneous. And children keep me young,” Bild quoted Raugnik saying.

Though the average age for menopause is 51, women having children over the age of 50 have become more common over time. In 2013, about 13 children a week were born to women over 50. The oldest woman to ever give birth is Rajo Devi Lohan of India who was 69 at the time of her daughter’s birth. Her pregnancy, like Raunigk’s, was made possible through in vitro fertilization.

According to a study by Columbia University Medical Center, there are some risks with having children over the age of 50 with invitro fertilization. They found that the rate Caesarean delivery is high after the age of 50, and those mothers are also at a high risk for maternal complications such as hypertensive disorders.

However, they found that the results were similar to those of their control group of women ages 42 and younger.

So far Raugnik’s pregnancy has not had any issues, and she hopes to remain fit and healthy.

The Daily Beast