I’ve always found the concept of milestones to be odd, considering that every single person on this earth will have a different life than the next.
Most of us used to do that standard 12-year-old thing where we made a “25 year plan” in which we laid out exactly how much time we had until we should be married, working our dream jobs, and having babies.
At the time, these plans seemed completely reasonable.
However, as we got older, we realized that life often doesn’t work out the way we expect.
A lot of women dream of having kids someday.
Though this is by no means a universal wish for all women, it’s a pretty common one. The average age of motherhood in the US is 26 years old , up from the age of 21 that it was in the 1970’s.
The change in the average isn’t that surprising.
A lot of physical and economic factors go into this being the average age, but there are sometimes outliers in statistics.
One woman in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is certainly outside the average.
73-year-old Erramatti Mangayamma has been waiting almost 60 years to have children with her 82-year-old husband Rajaro.
Throughout their marriage of more than half a century, they’ve been unable to conceive children despite their best efforts.
Some couples might decide that kids just weren’t in the cards for them, but this couple wasn’t going to give up.
In early 2019, the couple finally tried IVF treatment as a last resort.
In Vitro Fertilization or IVF involves manual implantation by medical professionals. It’s normally offered to those who have trouble conceiving or are too old to release eggs.
They did have to compromise and use an egg donor.
“As she is old, she cannot release eggs,” her husband told BBC , “So we got eggs from a donor and collected sperm from her husband.”
Miraculously, she became pregnant after the very first cycle of treatment.
“We tried many times and saw numerous doctors,” Mangayamma explained, “So this is the happiest time of my life.”
She also added that for most of her life, other woman would call her “Childless” and mock her for being unable to conceive.
In many cultures, a woman is still looked down upon if they can’t conceive children, or choose not to.
On Thursday September 5th, Mangayamma gave birth to a pair of healthy twins.
“It was smooth, as there were no health complications,” explained Doctor Umasankar fom Ahalya Hospital, “Each baby is weighing approximately 2kgs (4.4 pounds) and both the babies are healthy. I don’t think she will have any major health issues in the post-delivery period.”
This delivery isn’t just statistically rare — it’s record breaking.
Mangayamma is thought to be the oldest woman to ever give birth in the world. The previous holder of the title was 70-year-old Dalijinder Kaur, who successfully gave birth to a baby boy.
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When asked about how their age would effect their parenting, the couple had an optimistic response.
“Nothing is in our hands,” Mangayamma explained, “Whatever should happen will happen. It is all in the hands of God.”
It’s NEVER too late to achieve your dreams folks.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re past your prime. Anything is possible!
h/t: BBC
