New world record
Women past the age of fertility are banned from IVF treatment in France. However, a 59-year-old woman of Vietnamese origin has given birth to triplets in Paris after receiving donor eggs in Vietnam. Her name has not been released, but she is reportedly married to a man in his 40s. The two boys and a girl were delivered by Caesarean section and are in good health. She is the oldest known woman to have borne triplets.

The successful birth obscures the fact that such a pregnancy is very risky. "[Fertility laws] are there to treat infertility," Professor François Thépot, medical director of France’s Biomedicine Agency, told Agence France-Presse. "We do not want to turn them into a new means of procreation for people who would like to have children out of the natural context."

As an example of this, a 44-year-old has been in a coma in a hospital in Angers since June after giving birth to triplets. She had received IVF treatment in Greece. "The complications are manageable until about 42, 43 years old," said Professor René Frydman, a leading French IVF expert. "But after that you’re going into the danger zone, in particular around 60. The heart just isn’t made for it." ~ Guardian, Sept 9

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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