World's Oldest Mum Of Spain Dies Leaving Orphaned Twins

A Spanish woman who became the world's oldest person to give birth in 2006 when she had twin boys at the age of 67 using in vitro fertilization has died, newspapers reported Wednesday.

Carmen Bousada died Saturday at the age of 69, her brother Ricardo told dailies Diario de Cadiz and Barcelona-based El Periodico de Catalunya without giving the cause of death.

About In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
Encyclopedia section of medindia gives a general info about In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)

But a year after she gave birth to Cristian and Pau, sparking a worldwide debate over the ethics of fertility treatments for older women which her death is likely to revive, she told Spanish television that she had cancer.

Bousada's brother told El Periodico that he had sold exclusive details of her death to a television program which he did not identify, saying only that the illness was "very hard, she was in a really bad state recently".

He said the proceeds from the sale of the details of her death to the television show would go towards looking after the twins, who are now two-and-a-half years old.

Invitro Fertilisation
During IVF fertilization takes place invitro, in an incubated petri dish. The resulting embryo is transferred back to the uterus on Day 3 at the 6-8 cell stage. Sometimes the embryo transfer in done at the blastocyst stage on Day 5. The embryo is drawn into a specialized catheter along with a small amount of culture medium and is transferred to the uterus.

It was not clear who would now raise the boys. Bousada told Spanish television in December 2007 shortly after she was diagnosed with cancer that family members could care for them if she died.

"I have a nephew, and their godfather is very good with the children. They are not going to be alone," she said at the time.

IVF Miracle and World's Oldest Mom Wants to Have Another Go!!
An Indian woman, who became the world's oldest mother after giving birth to a baby girl through IVF, is planning to for a second child.

Bousada gave birth to the boys on December 26, 2006 at Barcelona hospital after undergoing hormone treatment and being artificially inseminated using donor eggs and sperm at a Los Angeles fertility clinic.

She later admitted to having lied to doctors at the clinic about her age, saying she was just 55, in order to get around the institution's age limit for single women.

Donor Eggs From India Enable 60-Year-Old Calgary Woman To Deliver Twins
A 60-year-old woman received donor eggs from India to become the oldest Canadian to deliver twins on February 8, 2009.

Spanish law does not set an age limit for fertility treatments but the majority of clinics turn away women who are over 50.

"Everyone should have children at the appropriate moment," Bousada said in an interview published in British tabloid News of the World one month after she gave birth.

She told the paper she had waited until the death in 2005 of her mother, whom she had looked after for several years, to carry out her dream of becoming a mother, 18 years after going through menopause.

Bousada also said she was confident she would live as long as her mother, who died at the age of 101, and become a grandmother.

Source-AFP
LIN