A 72-year old woman is welcoming her first child with her 79-year-old husband in Haryana, India.
In a report by Sky News, Daljinder Kaur and Arman Singh had been trying to conceive for many years. The couple then decided to go to a fertility clinic in Haryana, and underwent two years of fertility treatments. They have been married a long 46 years, and had faced ridicule as infertility is sometimes seen as a curse from God in their country.
The couple saw an ad for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and decided to go for it. The baby was conceived using the couple’s sperm and egg.
The baby boy, whom the couple named Armaan, was born last month and weighed in at just 2 kilograms, but is hale and healthy. Kaur said that she did not think she was too old to have a baby. She said to AFP,
I feel blessed to be able to hold my own baby. I had lost hope of becoming a mother ever. I used to feel empty. There was so much loneliness.
Kaur and Singh say that while other people point out how their age might affect their child, they have faith. “People say what will happen to the child once we die. But I have full faith in God. God is omnipotent and omnipresent, he will take care of everything,” Singh said.
Doctors at the fertility clinic were initially skeptical to try treatments because of the couple’s age, but agreed to go through when all tests turned up positive. Dr. Anurag Bishnoi, who runs the clinic, said, “I first tried to avoid the case because she looked very frail. Then we made her undergo all the tests and once all the results were okay we went ahead.”
Despite everything that people may say regarding the addition to their family, Kaur and Singh say they are thrilled to finally have their own child.
