New Mum-to-be Is 66 Years Old

I’m sorry if any of the older mum readers who frequent our pages will take this as an insult, but news that a mum-to-be setting a new record in England for her age really made me want to go to take a nap.

Elizabeth Adeney is expecting her first child at the ripe old age of sixty-six, making her the oldest pregnant woman in English history.

And making me really, really exhausted on her behalf.

Adeney, who works in a factory, is reportedly single and spent ten thousand pounds on in vitro treatments at a clinic in the Ukraine to get pregnant. Now eight months along, she’s apparently been hiding her pregnancy – perhaps because of the world-wide scrutiny the news has naturally elicited.

I’m all for single women having babies if they can support them. Same goes for older women bringing children into this world. But let’s face it, Adeney is single. Whether she can financially support her baby or not, whether she’s got the amazing health of women half her age or not, she IS taking a huge risk here of leaving her teenager completely alone in the world.

Because good health or not, does he know she’ll live to eighty-four? That’s how long she’ll have to make it to see her child graduate from high school and reach the age of maturity. What about eighty-eight to see them graduate from university? She can likely forget ever seeing her own grandchildren.

This could all be discounted if there were additional people in Adeney’s life to provide for this child not only in a financial sense but an emotional one. But Adeney is not only divorced with no partner but has no brothers or sisters to step in for this kid should something happen.

She’s said this whole pregnancy is her business alone. But is it? It may not be fair that people are asking her questions not asked of other single parents or even other mothers of “advanced maternal age,” but with her decision to pursue IVF, she brought the questions on herself. She is not in the same situation as a forty-year-old single parent, hence she can’t be expected to be treated the same way.

What do you think, Babble readers? Does Adeney’s age matter more in light of her marital status?

Image: Sky News