The modern world is filled with scientific innovations that have advanced the quality and longevity of life. There was a time when women who were infertile had two options: adoption or nursing an empty womb. There have certainly always been women who did not desire to mother, but for those who were involuntarily infertile, the inability to conceive created terrible pain. IVF has brought the joy of motherhood to millions of women and we have come to see this as a scientific good without questioning what — if any — limitations should be imposed on this process.
Women’s advocates argue for female autonomy and the right of women to control their own bodies; however, in the case of IVF treatment, women are not the only ones being affected. It is important to remember that a child is the result of a successful treatment and that he or she is going to be in a dependent situation for years to come. No one speaks for these potential children in fear that putting limitations on this procedure means putting restrictions on women’s reproductive choices.
The media is continually reporting on women who have long since passed menopause giving birth to children. In the U.S. 60-year-old Frieda Birnbaum gave birth to twins. Professor Severino Antinori became the U.K’s oldest mother when she became pregnant at the age of 62. When the public began to question her pregnancy, Severino responded by saying, “it’s not my physical age that’s important – it’s how I feel inside.”
At the age of 66, Maria del Carmen Bousada gave birth to twin boys and died before the children had reached their third birthday. She had assumed that because her mother had lived well into her twilight years, the same would be true of her.
In India, Mrs Bhateri Devi, at the age of 66, became the oldest woman to give birth to triplets weighing 2lb 6oz, 2lb 4oz and 1lb 7oz respectively. Mrs. Bhateri says, “I did this because people used to mock us.” One child has since died. Since the birth of Mrs. Bhateri Devi’s children, 72-year-old Raji, who is the mother of an 18-month-old child, has reported that she believes she is dying from complications due to her labour and delivery. When asked what made her want to have a child, she responded:
“I would have wanted a child even if I were a 100 years old. Seeing others with their children made me want one to.”
The doctor claims that her illness is unrelated to her pregnancy. It is important to note that Raji and her husband are uneducated farmers, who when they took out the 2000-pound loan to have this procedure had no idea of the risks they were taking.
Dr Bishnoi, who treated both women, stated:
“Even though Raji’s health is deteriorating, at least she will die in peace… 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. Raji is an old woman and her life expectancy was only about five to seven years.”
A pregnancy this late in life is extremely dangerous for the mother and Mrs Bhateri Devi proves that it is also a risk for any potential child that is born. In most cases, because these women are beyond menopause, the birth of a child is only possible with the use of a donor egg. Due to the recession, there has been a rise in the number of women willing to participate in so-called egg donation, thus raising the question of biological exploitation.
Young girls who themselves may be unable to support themselves or any potential child are donating their eggs so that in some instances, women of class privilege are able to give birth. Poor women have historically had their biological processes exploited by women of class privilege, with the most universal examples being performing as wet nurses and surrogate motherhood. Western women are turning to Indian women to bear their children because the cost is considerably lower and Indian women see this as an opportunity to provide for their families. This may seem to be a good arrangement; however, it still once again amounts to women using class privilege to exploit the bodies of other women.
Science has provided women with reproductive options that were unavailable 50 years ago, but nowhere is there a serious conversation regarding the morality of this decision. Is it really fair to bring a child into this world when the chance of being able to raise said child to adulthood is highly questionable?
We may not like to think about reproduction in terms of what is natural, but women go through menopause for a reason. At a certain age, women’s bodies become less able to support a pregnancy. It is possible to argue that a younger age is no guarantee that a woman will live long enough to raise her children; however, I believe that this is far more likely with a mother who is advanced in age.
A young girl who menstruates at the age of 12 is capable of becoming pregnant and yet this causes increased risk to the child as well as mother. As a society we have attempted to protect our children from becoming teenage mothers because we realize that their bodies have not reached maturity and that they may not have the maturity level to raise an infant. If we can take into consideration someone’s youth when we talk about pregnancy and motherhood perhaps advanced age should also fall into the category of prohibitive actions. Children also require a lot of energy, which is something that elder women may not always possess. Grandmothers raise children all of the time because of the absence of a parent; however, this is a completely different situation from actively choosing to become a parent later in life.
There are no legal barriers at this time regarding late in life IVF treatment, but perhaps there should be. People make decisions all of the time that are neither healthy or wise, but in this case, the repercussions move beyond the individual to impact an innocent child. We are not talking about an abstract set of cells; we are talking about a living, breathing human being that is dependent on the adults in hir life. It is hardly fair to privilege someone’s desire to have a child over the potential for said child to grow with the security that all children deserve. Just because we can help women to become mothers in their sixties and beyond does not mean we should.