An Indian woman who has given birth to her first baby at the age of 72 through IVF treatment said it is God's will for her to conceive a child at a late age.
"How could I have become pregnant, at my age, if God hadn't destined this for me?" Daljinder Kaur asked, speaking to Fairfax Media from her home in Amritsar, northern India, according to the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH).
In IVF treatment, the process of fertilisation happens outside the woman's body when a woman's eggs are surgically removed and fertilised in a laboratory using sperm that has been given as a sperm sample. The fertilised egg, called an embryo, is then surgically implanted into the woman's womb, according to the National Health Service U.K.
Kaur gave birth to a healthy baby boy on April 19, through caesarean section. The baby has been named Arman, Hindi word for "wish'' or "desire."
"God heard our prayers. My life feels complete now," Kaur told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"I feel blessed to be able to hold my own baby. I had lost hope of becoming a mother ever," she added.
Mohinder Singh Gill, Kaur's 79-year old husband, is also ecstatic of their first child and has expressed gratitude to God for the precious gift. "My husband is also very caring and helps me as much as he can," Kaur said.
In India, marriage and children are issues of supreme importance. Women who cannot bear a child are often abandoned by their husbands if their unions remain "issueless," according to AFP.
But Gill has not blamed his wife for not bearing a child. The couple also dismissed the idea of adopting one out of fear of how a child of different genetic material might turn out.
In 2006, the couple opted for IVF treatment at the National Fertility Centre in Haryana state, which provides fertility treatment to women who are decades beyond their menopause.
According to Kaur, the owner of the fertility centre tried to dissuade her several times from undergoing the process because her body was apparently "too old and that stress would be too great" for her to bear.
But she reportedly insisted, stressing that everything is in the hands of God.
Despite two failed attempts to conceive, Kaur said they must keep trying and hoping "because God would not want us to give up on him. Everything is in his hands."
Meanwhile, some doctors have raised concern on the use of the treatment on Kaur who is already at her advanced age.
"We condemn this totally. With science, you can make a 90-year-old person pregnant. The question is not about technicalities, it's about ethics. Our responsibility is to the patient," said Dr. Hrishikesk Pai, head of India's federation of gynaecologists, according to a report published in the National Post.
Dr. Aniruddha Malpini, who runs a fertility clinic in Mumbai added: "This gives IVF doctors a bad name."
But Dr Anurag Bishnoi, the fertility centre's owner noted that "reproduction is a fundamental right" and that the government cannot prevent it, said the report.
The other concern aired was the prospect of raising a child for the couple who are already seniors.
The couple, however, said they do not worry of the future because "God will take care of everything" for them.
"God has a plan for everything. Who would have thought I could have a baby at my age? It happened because God willed it. If we die, God will have a plan for taking care of our son," Kaur said.
